Code Prophecy: A Dark Secret
by Bighoggi14
Summary: A new kid comes to Kadic and befriends the lyoko gang. Unlucky for them, he is really observant... will he figure out their secret before they figure out his? Rated for cussing and some more content in later chapters.
1. Arrival

(Macas P.O.V.)

_My dad drags me from the U.S. to some school in France that I've never even heard of… all because ofhim getting that stupid transfer at work. Great, just what I need. I barely got comfortable talkin to my old friends and of course, I get dragged away somewhere else. Maybe this time, I'll stay somewhere for more than a couple months…_

"Hey there, are you new?" _Great, some girl decides to come talk to me… just what I needed…_

"Yah…"

"You wanna hang out with me and my friends for a while? After all, I **am** the prettiest girl in school…"

_Friends? Ya right… some kid with acne problems and a hillbilly are hardly the friends of the prettiest, girl in school… she probably has the most inflated ego ever…_

"Uh… no thanks, I need to go and find my room now…"

"Oh… okay, I'll talk to you later than… My names Sissi and these are my friends Nicholas and Herb. Ask anyone, and they'll know where to find me. What's your name?"

"Uh…My names Macas, Macas Keloly, and it was nice meeting you…"_ as nice as moving away from my friends could get, I guess…_

(Ulrich P.O.V.)

"Hey Odd, look at that"

"What?"

"Over there, it's some kid I haven't seen before…"

"Poor guy, being tormented by Sissi on his first day here. We should go help him out."

"Yah lets."

Odd and I start jogging over to where he's at; hey wait, Sissi left? What's going on? This guy must be really good… he got rid of Sissi by himself! 

"Hey Odd, hold up. This guy can take care of himself."

"Aw man, I haven't got my daily Sissi insult in yet!"

"Don't worry its Saturday, we'll see her at least 3 more times today, I guarantee it."

"Whatever you say Ulrich…"

(Macas P.O.V.)

_I have been wandering around this campus for an hour, and I can't even find my dorm… great. Maybe I should ask for help? I really don't want to, but I guess when you're desperate… Hey, they look like they might know their way around this place; maybe I should ask them._

"Um… excuse me"

"Yes?" Some girl with jet-black hair answers me with a pleasant look on her face

"I'm new here… and I can't find my dorm… can you point me in the right direction?"

"Ulrich, Odd, I think this is your territory." She says to two of the boys sitting next to her on the bench.

"What's your room number?" says the boy with chocolate brown hair. _Wow, I'm amazed. This guy looks like he could have any girl in school. I mean, green pants,tan shirt with an open green shirt on top of that? It just screams cool guy. So why is he hanging out with a couple of guys and one nice girl?_

"354" (A/N: I don't know what their room number is, I just made something up.)

"Hey, that's just a couple down from ours!" Says the other kid. _This just makes me wonder if the other girl said Odd as a nickname or if that is his real name… this guy certainly fits the bill. I mean what guy wears all purple all the time? And did he like spill grape juice in his hair?_

"Here, we'll take you there." Says the other guy, I'm assuming he's Ulrich.

"Ok, thanks guys!" I say.

"Hey Odd, take his box of stuff, he looks tired." _So I was right. He's Ulrich and he's Odd._

"Hi, I'm Ulrich, this is Odd, that's Yumi, Jeremie and Aelita." Said Ulrich, pointing to each in turn

"Hi." _Odd takes the stuff off my hands and wow, am I glad to be rid of that!_

(Ulrich P.O.V.)

"Hi, I'm Ulrich, this is Odd, that's Yumi, Jeremie, and Aelita." I say as Odd takes the box off his hands.

"Odd what's the problem?" _Odd is really struggling to lift that box, jeez Odd, it's just a tiny box!_

"Hey man what have you got in here, this thing weighs a ton!" Says Odd as he gasps for air

"Not much, it's only like fifty pounds of my junk." Says the kid.

"Fifty pounds? Of what?"

_What could he have that weighs 50 pounds that he could fit in that box?_

"Just some computer junk."

"What was that?" We laugh as Jeremie perks up from his laptop as soon as computers are mentioned.

_Great, another computer kid at this school. Well, this kid certainly doesn't look the part. Baggy blue jeans, white shirt, and a red unzipped jacket are not exactly the stereotype for computer geek. Cool hair though. Messy dark brown is the way to go._

"Wow kid, I'm amazed, you've been lifting around that heavy box this whole time. How long have you been looking for your room?" I say.

_Wow, this kid must be pretty athletic if Odds having trouble._

"Ulrich! That's not very polite, we can't ask very many questions until we know at least his name." Aelita chastens me.

_Whoops! I forgot to even ask this guy's name!_

"That's ok, and my name's Macas Keloly. I have been searching for my dorm for about… an hour and a half… or so. I might be off. It's no big deal…" Macas blushes as we realize we're all staring at him.

"You carried around a fifty pound box for and hour and a half and you say it's no big deal?"

"Yah…"

"Okay, can we just go to his room now? I'm dying over here…" We all laugh as Odd practically collapses from the weight of the box.


	2. Surprises

(Macas P.O.V.)

"Here Odd, I'll take that back now." I say as I take the box back from Odd.

"Come on, we'll take you to your room now…" Ulrich says, gesturing to me to start walking with him.

"Hey come on, let me take your backpack then, there is no way I can't carry a damn backpack!" Odd says as he runs to catch up with me.

"Okay, here you go…" I notice Ulrich's eyes widen as I shift the box to one hand so I can take my backpack off, but I say nothing.

_Jeez Ulrich, it's not that amazing… I guess I got pretty strong moving those boxes all the time while my dad moves around…_

"I hope you can handle this Odd, it's only about 20 pounds."

"Hey Macas, how did you manage to fit all that stuff into one small box?" Ulrich asks me.

"My family moves usually every couple of months, I got pretty adept at packing boxes."

"Why does your family move so much?"

"My dad has an international job, it takes him all over the world."

"Cool.Since you live all over, where would you consider home?"

"Umm… I guess my last house in America, we stayed there for about 2 years…"

"Where were you born?" Odd chimes in.

"Ironically, that same town. What about you guys? Birthplaces? Move often?

"Born and raised in France, I've only moved twice." Says Ulrich.

"Born in America, lived there for about 7 years, then moved here. Stayed here since." Odd says.

"Is this it?" I say as we walk around a corner.

"Yup, this is our hallway, I'm not surprised you couldn't find it, you kinda have to know where you're going." Says Odd

"352…353…354, this is it. Thanks guys."

"Come on, we'll help you get unpacked."

_Wow, these guys are pretty nice, much better than Sissi…_

(Ulrich P.O.V.)

We walk inside and unpack Macas' stuff; it's amazing how much stuff he jammed into one medium box and one large one.

"Hey, Macas, even though I'm basically computer handicapped, I still know that you usually have monitors along with the rest of your setup. But there isn't any in here." Odd says.

"Actually you're right. I have my 3 monitors being shipped to me from America. I just hope they make it intact."

"3 monitors? That's more than even Jeremie has!"  
"So I'm assuming that Jeremie is the resident computer geek?"

"Yup that's Einstein alright." Odd says as he dumps the contents of my backpack onto my bed.

"So Ulrich, you're French, Odd's American, I'm American, Jeremie seems to be French too…" Macas says, listing us all off in turn.

"Yup, you guessed right." Odd interrupts.

(Back to Macas P.O.V.)

"…and Yumi is?" I say.

"Full-blooded Japanese." Says Ulrich, turning around so I won't see him slightly blush.

_Okay, I think Ulrich likes Yumi… just a hunch._

"But what's Aelita?"

"Uhh…" Ulrich says glancing nervously to Odd.

"She's my cousin from Canada."

"Oh yah… right." Ulrich says, obviously relieved for some reason…

"Okay, thanks guys, I can handle it from here." I say, hoping I can get a chance to set up my computer now.

"Sure, if you need us, we'll be over in our dorm for a while. Number 349, it's just down the hall." Ulrich says as he and Odd leave waving goodbye.

_Okay, now to computer business, I hope my monitors get here soon and in one piece._

I take off my jacket and start putting my clothes in the closet.

"Oh, and Macas…" Odd poked his head back in, making me jump, grabbing my jacket really quick and putting it on before he notices. Luckily, he was looking at my CD collection.

"Yah?"

"Lunchtime is at 12:30, don't miss it, we'll see you there!" Odd says looking very excited and leaving again.

"Thanks Odd, I'll be there!" I call after him.

_Lets see it's right now _(pulls out clock from box) _11:49, I have plenty of time to do whatever. As for Odd, I really hope he didn't see. I don't want to think about what he would say if someone found out that… no, don't think like that. No one's going to find out!_

(Odd P.O.V.)

"Hey Ulrich wait up! I forgot to tell him something!" I say, Ulrich gives me the look, the kinda look that says what-now-if-it's-not-important-who-cares look. I have a feeling he was thinking about his precious Yumi…

"What did you forget?" Ulrich says, kinda exasperated. "If it's about lunch, hurry up and I'll be in our room finishing that music assignment due Monday."

I say nothing but give him a you-read-me-like-an-open-book kinda look and take off running back.

I run back and peek my head in.

I can do nothing but stare at the many bruises that cover his arms. Most of them look new, as though he got them just before arriving.

_I wonder where he got all those from… there's too many to just be from falling down the stairs, or tripping on the sidewalk…_

I give a start as I realize I've been staring at him for like 2 minutes and remember what I was going to say.

_Ok Odd, don't say anything. This isn't your business and if he wants to talk about it, he will… wait, what was I going to say? Oh yah…_

"Oh, and Macas…"

Wow, he jumped like a foot in the air, he must not want anyone to know about it… 

I pretend to look at his huge collection of CD's as he hurriedly puts his jacket on, covering all the bruises.

"Y-yah?" He says, stuttering a little.

"Lunchtime is at 12:30, don't miss it, we'll see you there!" I put on a fake excited smile and leave the room, jogging quickly down to my dorm.

_Should I tell Ulrich about this? No, I don't think so… if Macas want's to tell us, he will._


	3. A new foe

(Macas P.O.V.)

_That was too close… I have got to be more careful around him. Luckily, being in a boarding school will keep me away. I wont be getting any more bruises for a while._

I walk over and grab the box of computer stuff, take out each piece, and inspect it for damage. Luckily, the only thing that appears to be hurt a little bit is my keyboard has a slight crack in it. Easily fixable. I set up the rest of my computer: two cases, with two synchronized motherboards, three CPUs and one Internet keyboard w/basic explorer mouse. (A/N: yes, I am a computer geek, and this setup is possible)

_What time is it? 12:19, better get down for lunch… where's the lunchroom? Uh oh…_

I grab my jacket and shoes and jog down to Ulrich's room, 349 and knock. No one answers… great. I peek inside and there's no one there.

_They should probably lock their door… I'll lock it for them._

I lock the door really quick and jog down to the courtyard, hoping I can figure out where the lunchroom is.

(Sissi P.O.V.)

I walk around the corner and spot that new kid looking in Ulrich and Odd's room.

_What's he doing there? He should be down at lunch… oh there he goes. Maybe he was just lost. Now let's see what I can find in Ulrich's room. This time I'll find something so good and juicy, Ulrich will have to go out with me…_(Smiles gleefully)

I walk down to their room and grab the handle, knowing Odd will have forgotten to lock their door again…

_Stupid handle won't budge. Weird, they should get their door fixed. Actually, wait… Macas looked at the door really quick… Oh that brat! He locked the door! He must have seen me around the corner somehow! I'll get him for this!_

(Ulrich P.O.V.)

"Hey Odd, did you remember to tell Macas about lunch?" Jeremie asks between mouthfuls. "It's 12:45 and if he doesn't hurry, he'll miss lunch."

"Of course I told him, how could I forget about lunch?"

"Did you tell him where the cafeteria is?"

"Uh… oops" Odd grins sheepishly.

"Great Odd, I'll go find him. I'm done with my lunch anyway." I say and stand up.

"No you're not! You haven't finished your pudding!"

"Here, have it Odd." I push it at him and walk out the door.

_Okay, if I was a new kid, where would I be? Well that was easy, there he is_! 

"Hey Macas!" I yell across the courtyard to him. He looks over and waves. I start jogging to him and he starts walking to me.

"Hey Ulrich what's up?"

"Hey, you're missing lunch."

"Yah I know. Odd forgot to tell me where the lunchroom is." He starts laughing a little bit.

"That sounds like Odd." I laugh with him. "How long have you been walking around?"

"About 5 minutes, I lost track of time in my room."

"Okay, let's go, you don't want to miss lunch today, this is the first time we get something good."

"Oh? And what's that?"

"Pizza Hut pizza. The cafeteria's ovens broke down and they had to order something quick. Plus they have extra pudding and brownies for dessert."

"Wow, I'm having good luck on my first day here."

"Here you go, stand in line here with a tray, go around and get your food, then meet us at the table over there." I say pointing at where Odd, Jeremie and Aelita are sitting.

"Thanks Ulrich."

"No problem." I say as I walk back towards the table.

"Odd I'm amazed that you can tell Macas that lunch is at 12:30 and forget to tell him where lunch **_is_**." Aelita says when I walk up.

"Yah Odd, that's unbelievable." I say and sit down.

"Hey, don't blame me. It's not my fault that brains and beauty don't mix very well."

"I'm not sure, Jeremie is managing well." Aelita says casually while Jeremie blushes.

"Here comes Macas." Odd says and we turn around.

"Wow that was fast." I say.

"Yah, I know, I just kind of flew through the line, everyone else just let me through." Macas says as he sits down at the table.

"Weird."

"Hey slow down or you're going to burst. And how did you manage to get six slices of pizza, with five puddings and seven brownies? Not to mention the four chocolate milks." Odd asks looking hungry again.

"It seems that the cafeteria over shot how many kids were going to eat by about two hundred kids. They had plenty of extra and asked if I wanted some."

"Aww, man no fair. They weren't doing that when I got up there."

"Go up and try again, they would probably give you some more. They had like 75 slices left when I was up there."

"Oh hell yes!" Odd yells and runs up there.

"Is he always…" Macas starts to say but I interrupt him.

"Hungry? Yes, always. That's odd for you." We all have a good laugh together.

"The lunch ladies wont let me have anymore, they say I eat too much already." Odd says as he sits back down.

"Here Odd, I have plenty. Take some, but leave some pudding for me."

"Macas, you are my new best friend. No offense Ulrich."

"None taken." I say as I watch Odd and Macas pig out on the massive amount of food.

"Jeez, you must be really hungry Macas…"

"Yah, I haven't eaten anything since the plane this morning."

"Hey guys, I'm going to work on Aelita's anti-virus, I mean uh… oh shit."

Everyone all of the sudden stops what their doing and looks at Macas and he looks like someone just drove a bulldozer through the wall next to him.

(Macas P.O.V.)

"Um, anyone mind explaining?" I say really confused.

_An anti-virus? If Aelita has a virus, she should be in bed sick, but how could Jeremie help? This doesn't make any sense! The only other type of virus is a computer virus. How could Aelita have a computer virus?_

"Uh…" Aelita says

"Yah, uh, Aelita's computer got infected with a really bad virus, and Jeremie's trying to get rid of it…" Ulrich says quickly.

"Oh, ok. You really had me wondering for a second there!" I say.

_Something tells me they're not telling me the whole truth_.

"Damn Jeremie, I didn't know you **could** cuss…" Odd says laughing.

"Well, see you later Jeremie!" Ulrich says, obviously trying to get Jeremie to leave before he says anything else stupid.

"Uh, oh yah. See you later!" Jeremie says, walking out with Aelita holding his head like he has a headache.

"Why didn't Aelita just tell me she had a computer virus?" I ask before taking a drink.

"Her parent's uh… entrusted her with their computer while she's here… and uh… she's ashamed I guess."

"Oh, okay. That makes perfect sense, I guess she didn't want anyone to know she messed up big time." I say, trying to look casual.

"Yah."

_I think they're not telling me something. They started stuttering all the sudden, and Aelita looked way to scared from being punished by her parents. Something's up and I think I'll figure out what._

"Maybe I should go and help Jeremie, I know of some pretty powerful anti-viruses you can download easily from the Internet."

"Nah, I think Jeremie wants to do this by himself."

"Okay then. Well, I'm full, Odd do you want the rest?"

"Oh hell yes I do." Odd finishes off the last brownie and pizza slice.

"So what do you want to do for the rest of…" Ulrich never got to finish because Sissi decided to make an appearance.

"Oh Ulrich dear! I just came over to see if you wanted some better company." Sissi said in her high pitched voice.

"Sissi, the only way he could get better company is if…" Odd began.

"Actually, sure Sissi, I would love some better company." Ulrich interrupts as Sissi is beaming in delight.

"What the hell? Ulrich what are you talking about?" Odd says obviously bewildered.

"Yah Ulrich, what's the deal?" I say, wondering how anyone could want to hang out with Sissi.

"I'd like some better company, so I'm gonna go and see if Yumi is here yet… see you later guys." Ulrich stands up and walks past a fuming Sissi while Odd and I are bursting with laughter.

"Wow, he really had me going, I thought he had finally lost his mind." Odd says between breaths.

"Yah, me too. What do you want to do now?"

"How 'bout some soccer?"

"Sure, I haven't played any sports in a while."

We walk over to the soccer field joking about Ulrich and Sissi.


	4. Ulrich's rescue

(Odd P.O.V, at the soccer field)

"Here we are, let's see what you can do." I say as we reach the soccer field.

"Okay, I think you'll be surprised." Macas says as he gets in his ready stance.

"Aren't you going to take off your jacket?" I say, but immediately regret it, remembering what I saw earlier.

"Uh…er… no, um, I'm fine…"

"Okay, sure." I say quickly.

We have a great game together, he really is pretty good.

_Not like Ulrich good, but he's giving me a run for my money_.

"Come on, let's see what you got!" He yells running in front of me, preparing to take it.

"Okay, you asked for it!" I nail the ball, a good kick, but off target. It hits Macas in the arm really hard and he drops to the ground, clutching his arm. I run over really quick, apologizing for what happened all the way.

"Damn, I'm so sorry Macas. I've never really been the best with aiming. Is your arm broken?"

"No, I'll be alright."

_I hate to say this, but I have to…_

"Come on, let me see. You could be seriously hurt and not know it."

(Macas P.O.V.)

_Okay, this is a big problem. I know my arms not broken, he just hit a new bruise really hard. But he's not going to let me off the hook until I show him my arm. If I show him my arms, it'll lead to really embarrassing questions that I don't want to answer. I have no choice, I have to give in. But I'll only show him one arm, he might think that I fell or something..._

"Okay, take a look." I say as I pull off one side of my jacket, showing him my left arm only. Odd just stares at my arm for a few seconds. Then he shakes his head, pulling himself out of his little trance.

_Damn. He looks really worried. I think he's gonna ask me where I got the rest of the bruises and cuts._

"Where did I hit you?" He asks quietly.

I jolt back in surprise. I expected him to asks where they all came from, not just the one little bruise he gave me.

"Here…" I say, and lightly touch the place where he hit me, making me wince in pain.

_He just made my bruise bigger, ouch. Damn it hurts so bad. I hope he doesn't touch it._

"It's okay, it's not broken. But did I give you that huge bruise? It was just a tiny soccer ball…"

"No, I already had that one."

"Oh, okay. Do you want to keep playing?" Odd asks, making me sigh quickly with relief.

"No thanks. I'm really tired from the long plane ride this morning and playing you. You're really good."

"Thanks, you are too."

"I'm going to go to my dorm and sleep a bit, okay?"

"Sure, dinner's at 7:00!"

"Thanks Odd." I say, heading back towards my dorm.

(Ulrich P.O.V.)

Well, after leaving Sissi in the dust, I decided to really go and find Yumi. Unfortunately, it's a Saturday and most likely she's at home. I didn't feel like calling her, so I decided to just look around campus for a bit.

_Wow, what an interesting day… yah right. So far, I've had three girls talk to me, the entire time dropping obvious hints about how they would love for me to date them. That's a new record. Only three girls? Usually I get at least five. Oh, I'm at the music room. Oh shit, I forgot to do my music homework. It's due Monday, and I'm already most likely failing this class… stupid "major scales" or what ever they are. What a drag. Why does music have to be a required course? I'd rather take- wait a minute, what's that over there? It looks like Yumi and… William. What is he doing to her_

I get jolted out of my thoughts as I see William kiss Yumi. Immediately, rage begins to burn up inside me. I turn away so I don't have to see it anymore. Then I hear a ringing slap and turn around

Amazement comes over me as I see Yumi after she obviously just slapped William. Then once again rage as William punches Yumi in the stomach. Hard. I feel rage boil up inside me as William strikes her again and again. I can't breathe, I feel like nothing ever before, this is a hatred I cannot describe. He rears back for a killing blow, and I find myself in a flying leap kick to his face, knocking him to the ground. I don't even remember running over to him.

(Yumi P.O.V.)

"Oh hey William." I say as I see William walk over to me. I was just on my way to see Ulrich, it's so boring at my house and I can't stand Hiroki anymore. The teasing about Ulrich is beginning to get really annoying, it's almost constant now.

"Yumi…" William says, bringing me out of my thoughts. Then the strangest thing happens. Without another word, William kisses me! I reel back in shock and see the XANA symbol in his eyes. Now scared out of my wits, I slap William as hard as I can, but William barely moves. XANA symbol flashing again, he makes a fist and buries in deep in my stomach. I gasp and fall over, clutching my gut. He moves to punch me again, and I close my eyes, hoping this is a dream. I feel his fist connect with me several more times, hitting my cheek, shoulder, and stomach again.

When I don't feel anything, I prepare for the worst, I expect him to be getting ready to kill me. Nothing happens, so I open my eyes. There stands Ulrich, looking over at me with a look of pure rage. Not at me, but at William, I can see the fire burning inside him, he wants to kill William for what he did. I look to the side and there is William, face-down in the dirt. Then I look into the eyes of my savior, and everything goes black.


	5. XANA Quits?

(Ulrich P.O.V.)

I look at Yumi, and she looks into my eyes. Then she faints, falling limp against the dirt. With strength I didn't know I had, I pick her up and carry her away. As I round the corner, I look back a William. He is no longer face-down in the dirt, he is standing up and glaring at me. I see the XANA symbol flash on his forehead and realize what is happening. I run towards Jeremie's room, still carrying Yumi, amazed at how fast I can still run. Yumi stirs and opens her eyes.

"U-Ulrich…?"

"I'm here Yumi, don't worry."

"W-what ha-happened?" She asks as I set her gingerly on her feet. She sways a little bit, but stays standing.

"XANA possessed William, and he attacked you."

"W-we need to get to the f-factory." She says.

"There is no way we can get to the factory right now, William is on the lookout for us."

"Then lets go to J-Jeremie's room."

"That's where we're headed already."

"Good... thank you Ulrich for saving me. Who knows what XANA would have done if you weren't there."

"It was nothing." I say as I turn away, blushing.

We walk along, I have to help Yumi on some parts, and she still is kind of unstable on her feet. We make it to Jeremie's room and open the door to find Jeremie and Aelita sharing a passionate kiss.

"Eh-hem." I say loudly, and they break apart, blushing furiously.

"Jeremie, XANA's at-attacking." Yumi says.

"Oh my gosh, are you alright Yumi?" Asks the ever concerned Aelita.

"I'm doing okay. XANA possessed W-William, and attacked me. Ulrich knocked him down and carried me away from harm."

"Wow Ulrich, that was really brave." Aelita says, walking over next to Jeremie at the computer.

"It's nothing, I'm sure any of you would have done the same thing."

"That was still really brave." She says quietly.

"I need to call Odd, I'll have him meet us at the factory." I say.

"Wait Ulrich. The superscan picked up an activated tower, but the tower just deactivated itself." Jeremie says.

"Why would it do that?" Yumi asks after sitting roughly on Jeremie's bed.

"I don't know. Maybe he just wanted to hurt Yumi. Maybe he wanted William to be found unconscious in the field, there's a billion possible reasons why, but only one answer. We just need to figure out what that could be."

"Okay, I'm going to take Yumi home, we'll say someone tried to mug us or something… her parents can take care of her." I say helping Yumi towards the door.

"See you later Ulrich." Aelita and Jeremie say at the same time.

(Later, Yumi P.O.V.)

"Hey Yumi? Can I ask you a question?" Ulrich asks me.

"You just did, and yes you may."

"Did you know William was under XANA's control before or after he kissed you?"

_I knew he was going to ask me that. Somehow I just knew._

"After." I reply.

_Ulrich just got sad all of the sudden… he thinks I let William kiss me! Oh, boy, how am I going to explain this?_

"What about when you slapped him?" He asks sadly.

"Before… Ulrich , I know what you must be thinking. But it's not what it seems!"

"Here we are Yumi, I'll see you tomorrow…" Ulrich helps me up to the front door, then turns around and walks away, head down.

"Ulrich, wait!"

Ulrich turns around and looks sadly at me, but the runs out of my gate and across the street, disappearing into the night. I limp slowly into my house, and collapse on the sofa. My mom walks in.

"Oh Yumi, you're home earl-Oh my God what happened?"

"Some guy, he uh, tried to rob me and Ulrich while we were coming home. Ulrich managed to chase him off, but he uh, got hurt pretty bad. He walked me home, and left to go back to school."

"Do you know who the attacker was?" Mom says as she helps me upstairs my room.

"No, he wore all black and a black ski mask."

"I told you that Ulrich kid was no good, he probably staged the whole thing to impress you. It was probably just your other Odd friend in a mask." Dad says as I walk past.

"DAD! Ulrich would never, EVER, do that. If it was Odd, then how did I get all these bruises?" I yell.

"Your friend is weird, he could have taken it too far."

"Ulrich would never do that, he got hurt really bad himself!"

"I don't trust your friend Yumi, he just wants to sleep with you."

"Ulrich is a good friend. He does not just want to sleep with me!" I yell as I walk into my room, slamming the door behind me.

(Macas P.O.V.)

After my soccer game with Odd, really did go into my room and take a nap. I woke up at 6:47 really hungry, so I decided to do what any normal kid does. Go and get some food. I walk down to the cafeteria, getting my food, (meatloaf surprise) and walk over to our table. Odd is there, of course. Odd wouldn't miss dinner for the world. Jeremie and Aelita were there, talking about something or rather, but Ulrich wasn't there.

"Hey guys, where's Ulrich?" I ask, sitting down in my chair, across from Aelita.

"He went to go walk Yumi home about 2 hours ago, and he hasn't come back yet. I'm beginning to wonder if something happened to him…" Jeremie replies before returning to his topic with Aelita.

"Why did Ulrich walk Yumi home, I thought she'd be capable of doing it herself…"

"Hey Macas, you feeling any better since the game?" Odd asks, clearly trying to change the subject.

"Yah, I was really tired, you wore me out!" putting on a fake smile.

"You still sore?"

"Yes, but not as much as before." I say, taking a bite of the food.

"What happened?" Aelita asked. She and Jeremie had just finished their 'secret' conversation.

"Ah nuthin, you know Aelita, I just walloped him a good one with a soccer ball."

"Are you okay Macas?"

"Yah, I'm fine. Just a little bit sore." I say, trying to look nonchalant.

"You want me to take a look at it?" She asks, ever so politely.

"No, seriously, I'm fine." I say quickly, taking a bite of my dinner. It's disgusting! I swallow, it's like swallowing mud.

"You know, if it was a serious enough hit, it could have caused some internal damage. Cracked bones and whatnot."

"Well, in that case I had seriously better take a look at it, just in case." Aelita says sweetly.

"I'm fine guys, seriously!" I give Odd a look, who has been quiet this entire time, that pretty much says can-you-give-me-a-hand-here? Then I turn back to my dinner and try eating again. This time without chewing, I just swallow little bits.

"Hey come on Aelita, he says he's fine, just leave him in peace." Odd says.

"Okay, if you insist Macas, but just know that I'm here if you need me."

"Thank you Aelita, I'll keep that in mind. Odd, do you want to finish my dinner, I'm not really hungry."

"No thanks." We all stare at Odd in disbelief.

"Odd, did you just DECLINE FOOD? Who are you and where's the real Odd?"

"Hey come on, even I don't have an appetite for 'meatloaf surprise'. This stuff barely qualifies as food."

"I'm out of here guys, I'm not really hungry anymore… Odd, where are the showers?"

"Take a left at the end of our hallway and they're on your left."

"Thanks." I say as I walk away.


	6. Ulrich's Discovery

(Ulrich P.O.V.)

I get back from Yumi's at about 7:15.

_I've been gone for two hours, I should probably call the guys and tell them I'm alright. Nah, I can tell them later… I don't really feel like talking right now._

I walk to my dorm, but I can't seem to sit still, it's haunting me….

**(Flashback)**

"Did you know William was possessed by XANA before or after he kissed you?"

_A pause_

"After." She answered slowly

"What about when you slapped him?"

"Before."

_I knew it, she let William kiss her, and she likes him. She only slapped him when she saw he was possessed_.

**(End Flashback)**

"Dammit!" Ulrich says to himself.

_I'm going to go and take a shower, usually that helps me calm down._

I walk over to the closet and grab a fresh pair of clothes, and head out the door to the showers. I walk inside and head over to a stall. Then I hear the door close.

_That's weird, I wouldn't think anyone else would take a shower in the evening…_

I peek around the corner, and there's Macas, walking with his head down. He's got a dark red robe on, but I can still see his blue shorts underneath. And just a little bit of his torso.

_Wow, Macas must work out a lot… I wonder if he'll spar with me sometime? He's probably pretty good._

I slip back around the corner and out of sight. I don't want to talk to him right now either. Macas walks into a stall and takes off his robe, he hangs it on the hook outside the curtain. By doing so, he revealed his back to me.

I gave an audible gasp.

Macas' entire back was covered in bruises and cuts. Some were old and fading, some were fairly new, but there was one on his arm that looked like he got it just today. You would be hard pressed to find a new spot to give him a bruise, he had so many.

(Macas P.O.V.)

I walk into the showers and see an empty stall. I take off my robe slowly, it really hurts a lot. Then out of nowhere I hear a gasp. I freeze. Then I slowly turn to find Ulrich staring at me.

(Ulrich P.O.V.)

Macas turns towards me, having heard me, and I nearly cry. His front side has just as many bruises as his back, and his arms are covered in cuts and welts.

(Macas P.O.V.)

"Ulrich, I, uh… didn't see you there." I say, hoping he would be like Odd and not say anything.

_Oh shit, now someone knows._

"Macas, how did that happen?" He asks slowly.

"I uh, fell down the stairs?"

"Yah right, like I'm going to fall for that. Unless you fell down the empire state building's stairs, there's no way you could have that many."

"Look Ulrich, I don't want to talk about it, okay?"

"Macas, something happened. It won't help to keep it a secret. Soon somebody less nice than me will find out and it'll be all over school."

_Dammit! He's got a point. I can only keep this a secret for so long. If I tell someone, they can help me hold on until most of them are gone. I know most of the cuts will leave scars, but I can live with that. I have no choice, I have to tell him._

"Okay, okay. I'll tell you. Meet me in my room in one hour, and I'll tell you then. I'm… I'm just not ready yet…"

"Okay, I understand."

I walk away and take my shower, being careful not to induce more pain. This is becoming really hard considering my condition. After a nice, long, half-hour shower, I get out and head for my room. I sit and just think for a while.

_It's been about forty-five minutes since I told Ulrich to meet me here. I know that I need to tell someone, but I've never really wanted to. I didn't even tell my friends at my last school, and I knew them for a year-and-a-half. But here I am telling Ulrich after only knowing him for less than a day. Great, nice job idiot. You haven't even been here a day, and your already promising to confess your darkest secret. I am such an idiot. Ten minutes until he gets here. Augh, this is killing me! I'm going insane, Why can't he just leave me to my own life?_

Suddenly there's a knock at the door. Why would he be here 9 minutes early?

"Come in…" I say.

"Hello, Macas. How's your first day been going… you bastard!" Wait a minute, that's not Ulrich! I look up to see Sissi, the bratty girl who thinks everyone loves her.

"What do you want Sissi, this is not the time."

"Why do you want to keep me away from Ulrich?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh, you know. But answer my question. Why did you do it?"

"I don't even know what the hell you're talking about."

"Oh really?"

"Yah, so go away, bitch."

"Fine, but have you know, that when Sissi wants something, Sissi gets it!"

"Go away."

Sissi stomps out of my room, finally leaving me in peace.


	7. The Dark Secret

**I'm so sorry for this chapter. It is Macas' past story, which is really bad. I wish I didn't have to tell this part, but it is essential to the rest of the story.**

* * *

(Ulrich P.O.V.) 

I pace my room. What could Macas possibly have done to deserve that much pain? Was it his fault, or someone else's? I look at the clock, 8:23. Six minutes. Better head over there now. I walk out of my room to find who? Sissi. Of course.

"Ulrich dear, you should stay away from that new kid, he's trouble, I can tell."

"First off, I am not your 'Ulrich dear,' second, he happens to be one of my new best friends so lay off him."

"Hmf!" Sissi says as she walks down the hallway.

I walk down to Macas' room and knock on the door.

"Come in." He says.

I walk in, and it's hard to not figure out what his favorite color is. Red bedspread, red pillows, dark red curtain drawing the windows shut. He even has a red desk with a red computer case. I have to force myself to keep thinking about the task at hand.

"Hey Macas. I know I told you you needed to, but it's all up to you. I am not your mother, I cannot tell you what to do."

At the mention of the word mother, Tears fill Macas' eyes, threatening to spill at any moment.

"Oh god, what has happened to you Macas?" I ask, more to myself than to him.

"Come, sit down and I'll tell you." He says.

I walk over and sit on the bed next to him.

"Before I start, I want you to make a promise that you won't tell anyone what you hear tonight, okay? This is my story, I will tell the others when I am ready."

"Don't worry, I promise."

"Thank you. Where should I begin?"

"The beginning would be nice."

"I guess. Make yourself comfortable, I don't want to stop."

"I'm fine."

"I wish I could say the same… Okay. My father, Robert Keloly and my mother, Kathryne Helpro were married in a legal court of law in the United States nearly sixteen years ago. 5 months later, they had me. I think the only reason they got married was so that they could have a legal child. I was born in Washington state. I don't know what town. My father never told me. We moved away to California, then Colorado, than Florida. We never stayed in the same place for more than six months. Pretty soon I lived in England. We stayed there for about a year and a half. When we moved away, I was about three years old. I barely remember it, but it's where my first memories are. Playing in a crib. Playing tag with my little buddies. It was always about playing, I had not another care in the world. Then we moved to other less known countries. I can't remember any of them. Like before, never in the same place for more than six months. Then we moved back to America. We were in New York City for about a year." He paused for a moment, collecting his thoughts.

"It was there that it happened. I was about nine at the time. My parents were always arguing about something. My mother didn't… she didn't like moving so much. She preferred to live in one place and raise a normal family. I came home one day from school and there was an ambulance at my house. My mother had an 'accident' with a gun. Apparently she had been looking at it, and it just 'went off.' She died before the ambulance even got there. I had two twin sisters, both younger than me. Kailynn had an 'accident' as well, she died later in the hospital."

I just stare as Macas continues to pour out his entire heart and soul to me.

_I haven't even heard half of it…_

Macas stops for a second, I wait for him to continue, and realize he is crying.

"Look, if you want to stop, I can wait. You've told me enough for tonight."

"No, I need to say the rest. I won't be able to get over it until I've done so."

"You've been through a lot. You can tell me the rest tomorrow." I say warmly.

"No, I need to do it now…"

"I understand. Go ahead."

"Thank you. After Kailynn and my mother died, my father was charged for their murder. He was sentenced for just six years of prison. My father brutally killed my mother and sister, he should die for that!" Macas suddenly was yelling.

"Calm down Macas. No amount of yelling will put your father back behind bars." I say, putting a reassuring arm around him.

He flinches in pain, and I withdraw my arm, realizing my mistake.

"Sorry."

"It's okay. Anyway, even before my father was behind bars, he was very… violent. He would give me a small amount of time to finish a large amount of chores, and if they weren't done by that time, he would hit me. That is how I learned to pack boxes so well. When the slightest delay, or lack of efficiency, or whatever would happen, he would hit me and kick me. After he was imprisoned, I went into foster care for about four years; along with my other sister, Karyssa. The social workers were usually fairly nice and put me and Karyssa together. Those years were the happiest of my life. Our foster parents showed us something we rarely saw, and never from our father. Love. Then it all crashed in around us.  
My father was released early for good behavior, and we were put back into his custody. I was taken out of school so I could work. My father needed all the money he could get to by booze and cigs. He was a completely legitimate businessman, when he had work, but he was a drug smuggler. Not himself no. He used me. No cop would ever stop a kid on the street and search him for drugs. He would make the deal, I would go and deliver. Plus, the beatings only got worse. He got drunk every day and came home and hit me for walking in front of him and things like that. See this scar? That's where he threw a knife at me. Luckily it only grazed my cheek instead of piercing my head. He said I tripped on the sidewalk on the way home from school. My sister only had worse. My father hated the fact that he had twin girls, and constantly hit her. My mother died trying to save my other sister from the wrath of my father, I just know it!  
When I was thirteen, Karyssa was eleven, and she was showing signs of high intelligence. She passed every singe test at school with a 100, and was eventually even moved up a grade level. You think my father would be proud, but nope. He hated Karyssa and eventually proved it. A couple of months ago, she came home one say from school in tears. She had gotten two problems wrong out of one hundred on a test, giving her a 98. She was crushed. She was crying for a while, but I'm sure she would have calmed down. If she had the chance. My father saw her crying, and got mad, mad enough to do something horrible. He grabbed a butcher knife from the kitchen…

Macas was just about in tears now.

"And he used it to…"

Macas suddenly started crying again. Just a little bit, but the tears were definitely running down his face.

"It's okay, it's okay…" I say, wondering how painful it must be for Macas to be sharing this with me. He has been keeping this a secret all this time?

"He used a butcher knife to s-stab my sister in the head. Normally this would be instantly fatal, but she is still alive. My father stabbed her in the medically best place to stab her, and thanks to medical science and a lot of luck, she is alive. I managed to get her to the hospital quickly, and she went into immediate surgery. She survived, but she suffers from extreme memory loss, not remembering anything for more than twenty-four hours. She has no recollection of my mother, her friends, or even her father. Not where she is, who she is, or even why she is there. She only remembers me. Not what I've said in the past, or that I am her brother. She only remembers that I am someone who loves her and will take care of her. I worked with her every day, and got some progress. Slowly, she started to remember little things for more than a day. She knows my name and hers. I was so happy the day she said 'Macas, I am hungry.' I thought that through the years I could help her, and she would get back her old memories." He pauses for a moment.

"But once again my damn father ruins it all. He asked for a job transfer to here in France and sent me here, so he wouldn't have to take care of me. He ended up not coming, but sent me anyway. His work paid for it. My sister, she's all alone, all alone with my father…alone."

And with this Macas burst out crying, unable to hold anything back. I took him in my arms and let him cry. He must have cried for a good 15 minutes before he fell asleep from exhaustion. I gently laid him down in his bed and left, making sure to lock the door. I took a key with me, just in case I need it. I really hoped I wouldn't.

"Thank you Macas. You are the bravest person I know." I say as I leave.

I go back to my room. It's about 9:45. That was a long story.

_All that he said… it made me and my problems seem so insignificant. I have a loving mother and father. I was born and raised in one country. The only problem I have is wondering whether some girl wanted to kiss some damn boy. He said he was sad he came here, because he left his sister alone to deal with his father. He had no room to care for what had happened to him, only for others._

_Who is more courageous, the person who saves the world from evil? Or the person who successfully deals with the worst that life can throw at him, while not thinking even in the slightest about himself?

* * *

_

**Again, i say sorry for this chapter, being so dark and horrible. All flames are accepted I nearly cried while writing this. Don't worry, the rest of the story is not so dark. It will lighten up considerably.**

-Bighoggi14_  
_


	8. Life Goes On

(Macas P.O.V.)

I wake up in the morning at 9:32 A.M.

_Wow, I must have really been tired! I slept for like… wait a minute, when did I go to sleep? Oh God, now I remember. I told Ulrich everything, and started crying. I must have fell asleep in his arms. Damn. _

_I missed breakfast… oh well, I'm not hungry anyway. _

_Did I really tell Ulrich everything? It seems like a dream. How could I have done that? What if he tells the whole school? Everyone will want to see me and… I don't want to think about it._

I sat there on my bed, thinking about whatever, for seven hours. I don't know how I managed to sit and think for that long, but I did. When I finally decided to leave my room, it's dinner time. I'm extremely hungry, but I don't feel like eating right now. I guess I have to face the music sooner or later. I walk over to where I put the keys to my room, and one of them is missing.

_I really hope that Ulrich took it when he left. I don't want to think about what would happen if someone was running around with a spare key to my dorm._

I walk over to the door and open it. Making sure it's locked behind me, I leave to go and face my new-found friends.

(Odd P.O.V.)

"Yes Odd, you can have my biscuit." Ulrich says with a sigh. I don't know what his problem is, these biscuits are one of the few foods that this school does right. Then I see Macas walking slowly over to our table, sitting down in his spot.

"Hey Macas, how's it going?" I ask carefully.

Ulrich told us this morning during breakfast that we should be careful about what we say to Macas. He hadn't told us why, just that he's going through a hard time.

"It's going fine Odd."

_Macas' eyes look a little bit red and puffy… maybe he's been crying? Yumi looked a little bit like that when her parents were fighting. Why would Macas cry? When he got hit with the soccer ball, he didn't even shed one tear._

"You ready for your first day of school tomorrow?"

"Yup, I got all my stuff ready to go earlier."

"What are your classes?"

Macas digs around in his pocket for a second, then pulls out a small slip of paper.

"Here, lets compare." He says handing his paper to Ulrich.

"Okay let's see here… You've got first period with Yumi."

"You do? That's weird. Are you really in pre-calculus?" Yumi asks Macas. I don't even know what calcu-whatever is.

"Yah, I always was good at math." Macas replies.

"You've second, third, and fourth period with me and Odd."

"Odd and I, Ulrich." Aelita corrects him.

"Whatever. Then fifth period with Einstein." I continue, looking over his shoulder.

"You're taking computer programming?" Jeremie says, obviously amazed that he isn't the only one who likes computers.

"Yah, I hope I'm up to the challenge!" He smiles with a goofy grin on his face.

"I'm taking it for the second year in a row, it's the highest level they offer here."

"Wow Jeremie, you must be a genius!"

"No, I just call him Einstein for no apparent reason." I say, shrugging it off jokingly.

"He is a genius and he's MY genius!" Aelita says and kisses Jeremie passionately.

"Hey Aelita, I was only joking!"

(Sissi P.O.V.)

It's dark outside, and I wonder why I agreed to this meeting in the first place.

_William was barely higher up on the social stepladder than Yumi or Odd. This is practically a disgrace to be meeting him. Why should I even talk to him? Oh yah, he said he could get me and Ulrich together. He would have to get Yumi out of the picture for that, something which I am perfectly willing to do…_

"Finally William, you're 15 minutes late!" I say, looking William straight in the eye. _Cool contacts. He's got that weird symbol on them. Wonder how much those cost. Oh well._

"Sissi, I can get you and Ulrich together, but we must first eliminate Yumi."

"Really? How?"

"I have my ways."

"Now?"

"No, the time is not right. I will contact you when it comes."

Without another word, William disappeared into the shadows.

(Macas P.O.V.)

I leave dinner feeling happy. Ulrich had not told anyone else about my past, and everyone seemed happy to see me.

"See you tomorrow, bright and early!" Odd says as he walks into his room

"Ulrich?" Say quietly, before he walks into his room.

"Yes?"

"Thank you for not telling anyone. It means a lot to me that I have someone who I can confide in and he won't tell."

"You're welcome. But you know, you should tell someone. I won't because I made a promise, but your father deserves to be behind bars. Permanently." Ulrich says, looking angry.

"I know… but I can't face him yet. He is my father and I owe him the smallest amount of respect I can give him. It's that little bit that keeps me from turning him in."

"What are you going to do about… Karyssa?"

I felt the tears coming again, but brutally held them back. I cried all I needed to and crying more would not help.

"I don't know Ulrich… I don't know."

"Here." He holds something out at me. I don't even bother to look at it, knowing already what it is. It's my room key, the one I was missing this morning.

"No, Ulrich, I want you to keep it. I trust you."

I push the key back towards him, and leave to go to my dorm.

* * *

**I kinda liked this chappy. I shows that life does go on... n/e ways... I'm not entirely sure if I overdid Sissi or not. I'm not entirely sure she would be willing to take Yumi out... oh well, this is my story, and i will make Sissi as mean as I want! I liked that Macas trusted Ulrich enough with his room key. well R&R, i'll probably post another chappy tomorrow!**


	9. A Good Day so far

**And it's another chappy, fresh for the pickin! Hope you don't mind, thought id warn yah, Macas uses a little bit of strong language in this one against Sissi. Just establishing some bad relations between the two... it'll come into play later on.**

**And now for the chappy! Enjoy...**

* * *

(Macas P.O.V.) 

I wake up, knowing somehow it's going to be a good day. I get up at 5:00 so I can take a shower without being seen. It's been four days since my father last hit me, and some of the bruises are finally going away. I get to the showers, and there's Ulrich.

"Hey Ulrich, what are you doing up so early?" I say, trying to sound casual.

"I was about to ask you the same question, but I already figured out the answer. I always wake up as early as possible so I can beat the morning rush. Today it happened to be a five A.M."

"Good thinking."

"If you don't mind me asking…" he starts.

"I don't, ask away." I interrupt.

"How do you do normal everyday tasks without getting hurt? Even taking a shower must be painful."

"I learned little tricks to help me get through them. Did you know that cold water doesn't cause nearly as much pain on wounds as hot water? I start with cold water and slowly ease it up to hot. It doesn't hurt then because my skin got used to the water.(A/N: I don't know if that works for everyone, but it seems to work for me.)

After I got all showered, I walked back to my room and got dressed. Blue carpenter pants, red shirt, white over-shirt, like the way Ulrich dresses. I look at the clock, 6:32. Still half an hour until breakfast, I decide to check and see if any packages have arrived for me. I'm in luck, my 3 monitors have arrived. I haul them back to my room and open the boxes. Luckily I was smart and saved money for thin monitors instead of the bulky ones. I hook them up to my computer and boot up. Man, I love this computer. I checked my e-mail to see if there was any, and there wasn't. Surprise surprise. Check the clock again, it's 6:55. I'd better head down for breakfast, or I'm gonna miss it. I run out of my room, of course remembering to lock the door.

I head down for breakfast and see they're serving scrambled eggs and sausage, with pancakes and apple juice. Now that's my kind of breakfast. I walk over to our table, and find Sissi there, in my seat and annoying Ulrich.

"Come on Ulrich dear, you know you'd rather date me than hang out with these pathetic fools."

"Sissi, there is no way I would possibly want to date you. And don't call me 'Ulrich dear,' it really bugs me."

"Hey Sissi, did you happen to notice you're in someone else's seat?" Odd says before I get there.

"Bad Girl! You know you aren't supposed to sit in the chairs! Bad girl! Come on, get down. There you go, good girl… now shoo." I say, and she walks away, completely ignoring me. I sit in my normal spot and take a bite of my pancakes.

"Well, that was a weird way to get Sissi off our backs. I've never seen anyone treat her like a dog before." Yumi remarks.

"Well, you have to make sure to train your bitch before it picks up some bad habits, like chewing up the sofa." I say smiling. Jeremie, Aelita, and Yumi get it, but Ulrich and Odd looked stumped.

"Come on guys, its not that hard, think about what I said." I say, prodding them in the right direction. After a few moments, it seems to click for Ulrich.

"Oh, that's a good one. I never thought of that." Says Ulrich.

"Odd, I'll make it easy for you. A bitch is a scientific term for a female dog, as well as a cuss word." Ulrich says.

"Oh! Now I get it. Damn, that was a good one!" Says Odd, making us all laugh.

_Wow, I am having a good day. A nice long shower, got my monitors, having my favorite breakfast. I even got a good insult out at Sissi._

"Hey Odd, I got my monitors this morning. I'm surprised they came so fast. They weren't even cracked. Now all I need is an Internet connection."

"Don't worry about it, the school provides all Internet connections to their computers. You just have to disguise yours as a school computer and It'll let you right on." Says Jeremie, obviously interested now because we're talking about computers.

"How would I disguise it?"

"Just change your computer name to a bunch of numbers, the server doesn't check the validity."

"Jeremie, you're making my brain hurt, stop talking about smart stuff."

RING! RING!

"Well, time for class. I'll meet you in first period later, the principal said he was going to show me around personally." I say, walking off towards the principal's office.

"See yah later!" Yumi says walking off to her class.

The rest of the day goes smoothly. I'm introduced in each of my classes, and I sit by someone I know. I think the guys didn't sit by each other on purpose, just so I could. Lunchtime is good. They served sub sandwiches. One peculiar thing I did notice though was that Ulrich and Yumi never said one word to each other. Not like they just were talking to someone else, they were actually avoiding each other. Somehow I could just tell. I decided to talk to Odd about it later. I go through the rest of the day, nothing eventful happens. The computer programming class is fairly challenging, but I'm confident I can pass. After school, we go to play soccer. Odd and Yumi vs. Ulrich and I. Again I notice that Ulrich is completely avoiding Yumi, and Yumi the same.

(Ulrich P.O.V.)

I am playing soccer after school, just a friendly game between friends. Macas and I against Odd and Yumi. My team is up by one when all of the sudden Jeremie calls me over to the sidelines where he and Aelita are sitting, watching the game. I run off really quick, hoping Macas can handle himself for a while. He is really playing well in spite of his… condition.

"Hey Jer, what's up?" I ask out of breath.

"Ulrich, we have a XANA attack. I don't think we should let Macas know. Maybe later, but not now. I need you to find a way to get him to go do something else without getting suspicious."

"Why me?"

"Because you seem to be connecting with him quite well. He considers you a good friend. And plus, I just wanted Odd and Yumi to win the soccer game."

It's true, Yumi and Odd had just scored another goal, getting them ahead by one.

"Not funny Jeremie. What should I tell him?"

"I don't know, but Aelita and I are heading over to the factory now."

(Macas P.O.V.)

I had almost gotten the ball away when Odd gave a lucky kick to Yumi, and she scored again. They were now up by one. Come on Ulrich, hurry up! Ulrich runs over really quick and whispers something to Odd, something I don't understand. I don't think Ulrich knows I heard, and I fake like I didn't.

"XANA." Odd immediately nods and starts running off toward the park. Yumi obviously understands without any explanation, gives a nod to Ulrich and runs off.

"Hey Ulrich, where's everybody going?"

"Macas, I am so sorry. W-we have had this planned for weeks and… we never expected you to show up."

"What have you had planned?" I trap the soccer ball underneath my foot.

"My favorite band is in town, the Subsonics, and uh, we're going to see their concert."

"Oh okay." I say.

_He's lying. I know it, this time he's just plain out lying._

"I would love for you to come along, but Yumi's dad wouldn't allow it. He doesn't trust me or Odd, but he trusts Yumi, Jeremie, and Aelita. We're lucky he let us come along."

"That's okay, I understand."

"Really? You aren't mad or anything?"

"Nah, I understand I just got here. It's going to take a while for anybody to really trust me. Why did they run off like that?"

"Believe it or not, uh, we forgot. With you here, it kind of pushed everything else from our minds."

"Okay, see you later. I can go work on my homework."

"See you later Macas."

I walk away towards my dorm.

_They're not telling me something. I doubt anyone could forget about their favorite band coming to play. Something tells me he might be telling the truth about Yumi's father though._

I walk inside my dorm and close the door.

* * *

**Just thought i'd put in a side note... Ulrich and Macas are not going to pull any gay stuff. They're just going to be really good friends... I'll clear that up later. Thanks to Lyokolady for pointing that out! And a note to 'code lyoko lover'... BITE ME THIS IS MY FANFICTION!**


	10. New monster, confession, and sacrifice!

**I kinda decided 'what the hell, i'll write another one.' So I did. Two chappys in one day, i'm happy. YAY!**

* * *

(Ulrich P.O.V.) 

I get to the factory and immediately head for the scanners telling Jeremie to virtualize me right away. He does and I land deftly in the Desert Sector. The battle is raging around me and I waste no time. Pulling out my sword, I run over and stab the nearest crab. It explodes but some of the shards hit me.

"That's five life points lost Ulrich." Jeremie's voice booms in the sky.

"Thanks Jeremie, but who's counting?" I reply.

"Obviously me. Guys, I think XANA has just created a new monster."

"What is it, and how do we kill it?" Odd replies, finishing off one hornet.

"I don't know, but it only has five life points."

"Five, is that it?" I reply. Why would XANA create such a weak monster?

"Yah, but there's a line of code that isn't in any of his other monsters."

"Which means?" Yumi asks before slicing through a block.

"Um, I'm not sure. Wait, here it is… Oh my god! Guys, this is a kamikaze monster. It will sacrifice itself just to kill you, it explodes on contact. It has a blast radius of ten feet."

"A kamikaze monster? What does it look like?" Yumi asks, blocking a few shots from a roachster.

"I don't know, I don't have a visual."

"I do Jeremie. And it looks like a cheetah." I say, looking warily at it. It does indeed look like a cheetah, just much skinnier, with the XANA symbol on its chest, right in front. It's just standing there, waiting for something. Then another one is materialized next to it. And another. Another one appears and then they seem to stop.

"This new monster is built for speed and agility. It is faster any of the vehicles and it can jump 50 feet."

"Jeremie, there's four of them." I say, finishing off the last megatank with a quick stab.

"One for each of you. And I figured out what XANA is doing, just not why."

"What's he doing?"

"He has control of a cargo jet, a fully-automated one. He plans to crash it into the school. It will hit the auditorium in less than ten minutes."

"Someone has to go warn the school, I don't think we can finish this in ten minutes." Yumi says.

"Jeremie, call Macas. Don't tell him how or why, just tell him he needs to make sure everyone is out of the auditorium." Aelita suggests.

(Macas P.O.V.)

My cell phone rings while I'm in my dorm, working on my computer programming homework.

_That's weird. I haven't told anyone I even have a cell phone._

"Hello?" I answer.

"Macas, this is Jeremie. I need you to do something for me. It's extremely important!"

"Sure… Jeremie how did you-"

"Not now, I'll tell you later. You need to make sure everyone is out of the auditorium and surrounding area, a plane is going to crash full on!" I sit there bewildered for a second… then-

"Sure Jeremie. I'll do that."

"You have less than nine minutes to do so. Hurry!" He says and hangs up.

I race down the he auditorium and check my watch. Six minutes. I run inside and take two minutes to check and see if anyone is there. All empty. I run outside and check the grounds. Two minutes left, I can hear the roar of the engines as the plane approaches. No one is around. That's good luck. I run as fast from the auditorium as fast as I can when the plane hits. The result is the most ear-shattering, ground shaking, loudest thing I have ever heard in my life hundredfold.

(Ulrich P.O.V.)

I have just finished off the last crab, and those jaguars haven't moved since they were virtualized. A booming voice sounds from the sky, not Jeremie's.

"Humans, I have corrupted your devirtualization program. You will still be devirtualized, but when you are, you will _feel_ all of the wounds you have sustained here. My new monsters will have enough power to kill any of you on contact. When you are hit, you will return to your world, dead. I must thank you for a most enjoyable few years. Everyone else who has fought against me has perished, and no one has been able to materialize Aelita. Good-bye. I shall honor you when I rule the world as the most worthy opponents I have ever fought."

"What was that Jeremie?" I say to him, ready to fight against these new monsters, I think I'll just call them jags.

"I think that was XANA guys. But what are we going to do?"

"We have to get devirtualized, but not by these new Jags." I say. "It'll have to be one of us."

"Are you saying we should kill each other? That would still kill us." Yumi says.

"No, XANA has just managed to corrupt the program a few seconds ago. Any blow that wouldn't kill you in the real world will not kill you here." Jeremie says.

"I'll kill us. I can easy enough take out these new Jags." Odd says, ready to try anything.

"No Odd, getting shot would kill us in the real world. As well as getting sliced in half by a fan. It will have to be me." I say, bowing my head.

_Losing Yumi would tear my heart in half. I love Odd as I would a brother, as well as Jeremie and Aelita. But Yumi… Yumi is different. I love Yumi. Not like a friend, but something more…_

"No, I'm sure there must be some other way…" Aelita says.

_Sweet Aelita. You are always so kind. I know I will die here. There is no way I can beat four Jags. But if I can get Aelita to the tower, the rest of the world will be saved._

"Watch out, here they come!" Yumi yells, and we all dive out of the way. The jags speed past us, and turn around for another attack. Holy shit, they are fast. Faster than anything I have ever seen before. My overbike looks slow compared to them.

(Macas P.O.V.)

I turn and stare as the whole auditorium collapses in flame and smoke. There is a small child behind me, he stares too. He must have been playing in the park. I stare in horror as I see thousands of glass shards flying in every direction, including the boy and me.

"Watch out kid!" I yell, but too late, there's no time. I dive in front of him to stop the glass from tearing him limb from limb. I scream in agony as every single shard hits me in the back and arms, my legs and head, every part of me is yelling out in pain. I fall to the ground in front of the kid, he is crying.

"Don't worry, everything is going to be alright…" I say soothingly, trying to keep my voice from shaking. My blood is running off of me, I can feel it. The grass underneath me is getting stained red.

"Can you do me a f-favor?" I say, choking up a bit.

"W-w-what you want?" He says quietly.

"If you ever meet a guy named Ulrich Stern, tell him Macas said thanks for everything."

"Okay."

"You promise?"

"I promise."

"Thank you" I say and I black out, knowing I will die soon.

(Ulrich P.O.V.)

"Guys, I may have a solution. I can devirtualize you, but it will take me some time." Jeremie says.

"How much Jeremie?" Says Yumi, throwing her fan at an approaching Jag, only to miss.

"About 5 minutes." He says, we can hear the sound of his typing from here.

"We don't have that much time!" Odd says. Luckily he hits one of the Jags full on, making it explode, killing its partner.

"There's no time Jeremie." I say, standing useless.

_There is only one way to save them. I have to save them, even if it kills me!_

"Good-bye guys, I'm not going to make it out of this alive." I unsheathe my sword and pull into ready stance.

"Ulrich what are you-" Odd says but never finishes.

I have just sliced Yumi and Odd on the arm, taking away the rest of their life points, devirtualizing them. I didn't want to hurt them, so I hit them where it would hurt the least: Their arms. They can handle having sliced arms… right?

"Ulrich! How could you do that? If you had hit them anywhere else it would have killed them!" Jeremie yells.

"I had no choice Jeremie. I will not let Odd and Yumi die because I was unwilling to make a sacrifice." I say grabbing Aelita, and running off at supersprint towards the tower.

"Ulrich, they're catching up!" Aelita yells at me. I look back, and sure enough, they are gaining on me. And quickly too.

"Ulrich! I have an idea!" Aelita says quickly.

"Anything Aelita, just hurry." While I am running, Aelita sings. That pure note that can change the face of this world. I look back and a wall has just appeared. One of the Jags has too much momentum, and slams into it, exploding instantly.

"Good one Aelita!" I yell, taking off again.

The other one actually jumped over the wall and continued its pursuit towards Aelita and me. Luckily I arrive at the tower. Unfortunately, XANA has put it at the top of a fifty foot cliff.

"Aelita, materialize some stairs for you to walk up, I'll distract the Jag long enough for you to get up there."

"But Ulrich, just run me to the top!"

"I can't the Jag will just jump up there, I have to lead him away." I say. All of the sudden I get this horrible feeling in my chest, it feels like my heart having a chunk sliced out of it… Macas has gotten hurt. I can just feel it.

"Go Aelita!" Aelita quickly materializes the stairs and takes off running. I run off in another direction, leading the Jag away from Aelita.

"Jeremie, can I talk to Yumi on the headset really quick? I have to tell her something…" I say as I run. The Jag is getting closer, I don't have much time.

"I'll put her on, but you have to hurry, the plane has just collided with the school!"

_You're a little late Jeremie…_

"Ulrich?" Yumi says.

"Yumi, I should have told you this a long time ago. I love you. More than a friend, more than a sister, more than anything I can describe. I wanted you to know that knowing you, even as a good friend, has made my last couple years the best in my life."

"Ulrich?"

"Yes Yumi?"

"Do you- do you really mean that?"

"With all my heart Yumi."

"I love you too… you can't die like this!" I can tell she is in tears, just from the sound of her voice.

"Yumi, good-bye." I said mostly to myself, but right there that I decided there was no way I was gonna let some son of a bitch Jag kill me and take me away from Yumi! Feeling an incredible warmth that must be Yumi's love, I got an amazing burst of speed, so fast that the landscape would be just a blur to anyone else. But to me… I was loving every minute of it. I could see every detail as if I was walking. But I was so fast, the Jag was crawling compared to me. There was just one little problem. This super-supersprint was wearing me out, fast. I was so grateful when Aelita finally reached the tower. I flew past the jag and sliced it in half, running out of range before the explosion could kill me.

"Yumi, I need you to put Jeremie on." I say. I'm exhausted. If I'm not careful, I could fall unconscious, lose the rest of my life points and die. I would most likely wake up in a coma in the scanner room.

"What's up Ulrich?"

"I felt something. I don't know how, but I know Macas is hurt. He was hurt while saving someone."

"How could you know that?"

"I don't know."

AELITA

"I think Macas might be dying." I say before I just collapse. I can't move, I'm exhausted. I just lay there.

CODE:

"Let's hope you're wrong Ulrich." Jeremie says. I feel myself getting weaker, and look down to see my body slowly devirtualizing. Hurry up Aelita!

LYOKO

"Return to the past now."

I give a great sigh of relief as I see the great white light envelope me.

* * *

**Muahahaha. Evil cliffy. I like cliffys. Well, i hate it when i'm reading a story, but I love putting them in! Muahaha, you're all going to hate me now!**  



	11. Turmoil

**And here's my new chappy!**

* * *

(Ulrich P.O.V.)  
And then Macas passes the ball to me, and I shoot for the goal. It's going to go in, and Yumi blocks it. 

It's just after we returned to the past, and we are at our game of soccer. Macas and I are ahead by three, because Jeremie didn't call me over, and it looks like my team is going to win. Then Macas stops.

"Hey, does anybody feel like we've done this before?" I look at him suspiciously. He remembers the return to the past? No one else has ever done that. I give Odd a look that says shut-up-and-let-me-handle-this.

"No, not really…" I say, and start playing again. Just like before I swerve around Odd, but he kicks it the other way. Just like before, he goes for the goal. But Macas is there and stops him. That didn't happen before.

"See, I knew you were going to go that way, like I've already done this soccer game. And aren't you guys going to be late for your concert?" He asks, looking to each one of us.

"What concert?" Odd asks. I cringe.

_Thanks a lot Odd, for blowing my story… wait, I can still fix it._

"Oh well, I guess Odd knows now anyway. We were uh, having a surprise concert for Odd, he um, passed a math exam with good marks." I turn to Odd and Yumi and mouth **_COVER STORY_**. They nod back.

"Cool a concert? Let's go!" Odd yells and runs off towards the park. I figure he's headed towards the factory… even he knows he wouldn't pass a math exam with good marks.

"I'll go make sure he doesn't get over excited and do something embarrassing." Yumi says, walking over to Jeremie and Aelita. Then they all run off towards the park together.

_And of course they leave me to take care of Macas. Oh great, how do I explain that he returned to the past after we fought an artificial intelligence who's trying to take over the world. Um…_

"Ulrich, aren't you going too?" Macas asks me, bringing me out of my thoughts.

"Yah, but how did you know about the concert?" I say.

"I really don't know. I just feel like I have already done this day. Maybe I dreamed it. At the end of my dream, Jeremie called me and said I had to get everyone out of the school before this huge plane crashes into the auditorium. The plane did crash, and I had to throw myself in front of this little boy to save him from thousands of shards of glass. I blacked out and showed up here, playing soccer again."

I just stare at him. He jumped in front of a small kid to save him? And I guess I was right, Macas was dying before we returned to the past.

"That's a weird dream. Would you really jump in front of someone to save them?" I ask.

"Yah, I think I would."

"That's really cool of you. I bet most people wouldn't even think about sacrificing themselves for the sake of others… well I gotta go, I'll see you later Macas."

"See you later, have fun at the concert."

"Thanks!" I yell back as I run off towards the factory.

(Odd P.O.V.)

I took off running towards the factory, hoping the others would follow. We needed to talk about this privately. If Macas could remember the return to the past trips, he might have to be added to our group. But we also don't know if he's trustworthy.

_Those bruises on his arms, we don't know where they are from. He could have been part of a gang back in America, he could have had an accident, he could have done a lot of things to get those. Unless he is willing to tell us, we just can't trust him._

I grab the rope and swing down to the lower floor, waiting for everyone else to arrive. I didn't have to wait long, Aelita, Yumi, and Jeremie quickly came down as well.

"I trust Macas. He seems to be very kind, and there's no way we can keep this a secret for long if we have to keep returning to the past." Says Aelita quickly. Always the sweet one, she is.

"I'm not so sure. He is a nice guy, he made sure everyone was out of the gym when the plane hit, but we don't know if he can be trusted with this kind of information. He could go and tell everybody. Remember what happened with Taliea?" Yumi says.

"I'm pulling a no-vote. He is a great guy and all, but he seems to be avoiding things. I don't think we can trust him. Also, we've only known him for a couple of days. I think he will prove trustworthy later, but for now, he's not." Jeremie says.

"I don't know if we can trust him. He's very athletic, much better than me. He lost by one point when we played soccer, and that was only luck that I scored the last goal. But there is another side to him that we have to be careful of." I say, looking to each of my friends.

"He has bruises and scars all over his arms. From what, I don't know. But they are there. That's why he didn't want Aelita to check and see if that soccer ball did any damage."

Everyone looks shocked at this news. Why would he have bruises on his arms?

"Well, that's one four, one against, and two not sures. How are we going to solve this?" Jeremie says.

"Don't I have a say?" Ulrich says, just now arriving.

"Of course you do." Aelita says.

"We can trust him. He told me that before we returned to the past, he stood in front of a small boy to save him from thousands of shards of glass hitting him. In the process, he was extremely injured, he nearly died. We can trust him."

Everyone, including me, stands in shock with the realization of what that means. He was willing to sacrifice himself in order to save a little child? I recover from my shock and ask the question that is on everyone's mind.

"What about the bruises all over his arms? We can't know exactly who he is until we know where he got those." His eyes widen in shock.

"How did you know about that?"

"He showed me his arm while we were playing soccer. I hit him with the ball and wanted to make sure he was alright. It doesn't matter how I know though, he has them and we need to figure out how he got them. Otherwise, there's too much about him we don't know." I say, knowing my argument is enough to persuade the group to not let him in.

"I know here he got them." He says. My eyes widen in shock again.

"W-what? How could you possibly know where he got them?"

"He told me."

"So where did he get them?" Yumi asks.

"I-I can't tell you. He made me promise. I wouldn't tell you anyway. This is his problem, and I won't betray his trust."

"You need to tell us Ulrich, we won't ever look at him the same now until we know what happened." Yumi says quietly.

"Don't ask me to do that, I just can't." Ulrich says.

"Ulrich we need to know." Jeremie says more forcefully.

"I can't do that!" Ulrich yells before turning away and running from sight.

"I'll go talk to him. He is obviously in turmoil, whether to tell us or to keep his promise to Macas. We shouldn't have done that." Yumi says and walks away after him.

Jeremie, Aelita, and I then walk back to the school, not saying anything. We are lost in our thoughts. Can we trust this mysterious boy?

* * *

**A minor cliffy... I like cliffies. I didn't want this story to end, so I decided that, against prior thoughts, Macas does survive, and will still play a major part in the story. Please R&R, I had like 6 reviews in my inbox earlier and I was like 'holy crap, people like my work!' Thanx for all the great reviews!**


	12. Trouble

(Macas P.O.V.)

I walk back towards my dorm, just like yesterday… no, it wasn't yesterday, it was today. But it couldn't be today… anyway; I walk back like before. The whole way I get that same feeling. That Déjà vu feeling. I remember seeing Sissi walking towards me like before, and avoided her this time. God she's annoying. I remember that younger girl… Millie? She was going to walk up to me before, but Sissi told her to scram. I walk over by her and she comes up to me again.

"Hello, are you Macas Keloly, the new kid at school?" She asks kind of timidly.

"Yah, that's me." I reply

"I was supposed to give you this note from the principal." She says, handing out a note.

"Thank you… What's your name?"

"Millie…"

"Thank you Millie." I say and walk towards the principal's office.

"Wait!" She says. "Would you mind if I asked you a few questions afterward?"

"No, but why would you want to ask me about anything?"

"Because I run the school newspaper and Ulrich is a close friend of yours."

"No, I wouldn't mind. How about you meet me over by the science classroom at 6:30? This should be over by then…"

"Sure and thank you!" I walk over to the principal's office.

_Why would a girl from the school newspaper want to talk to me about Ulrich?_

His secretary just shoos me in there, knowing I would be coming.

"Hello sir, you wanted to see me?"

"Yes Mr. Keloly, it's extremely important. Please sit down." He says and I take the offered chair.

"Now then, I have been informed that you have been causing trouble at school."

"You have? Well, that's odd, I haven't done anything wrong to my knowledge."

"Well, my informant says that she saw you being extremely violent with Ms. Yumi Ishiyama." He says.

_What? I haven't done anything to Yumi._

"What do you mean by violent sir?"

"I mean that you repeatedly struck her until she passed out. And then Mr. Ulrich Stern managed to subdue you and take Ms. Ishiyama to safety."

_Say what? I have no idea what he's talking about. I didn't hit Yumi!_

"I have no recollection of any such event. Are you sure your informant has correct knowledge?"

"Yes she is a reliable source."

"And who might this informant be? Maybe if you were to call her in here, we would be able to work out this matter. I am sure I have not hurt Yumi Ishiyama in any way."

"My informants are none of your business, and as of right now, she is busy." He says quickly.

_Hmm, he seems to be defending her. I have a feeling this informant is Sissi. She was leading on to something like this last time I talked to her._

"I'm sorry sir, I did not mean to intrude upon your informant's privacy. But I'm sure I did not harm Yumi."

"I'm sorry, but I am going to have to keep you in detention until Jim can locate Ms. Ishiyama and bring her here."

"And how long will that be sir?"

"I sent Jim to find her, he should be back within an hour."

"Then may I go and find something to do until then?"

"I guess, what might that be?"

"I have some music class homework due tomorrow that I need to finish."

"Why certainly, just bring it here. I'll have Sissi escort you to your room and back."

_Damn. I thought that maybe he would let me go alone. That would give me time to think about my predicament. With Sissi coming along, I won't be able to think about anything._

"Okay sir." I say, and walk out. Sissi meets me in the outer office and walks along with me.

"Well Macas, what trouble have you gotten yourself into this time? Oh right, as if I didn't already know."

"And how would you know about that?" I asked.

"Because I am his 'informant.' I tell my daddy anything I feel like. Usually it helps me do whatever I please."

"Then why did you give him bad information about me?"

"Because you ruined my chances of getting with Ulrich." She says with an indignant air.

"By doing…?"

"You locked their dorm room on Saturday, knowing I would try to get in there!"

"I did lock their dorm room. I had no idea what you had planned, I did it because I thought it would be a good idea."

"Liar." We arrive at my room, I run in and grab my homework, like promised, and head out again. On second thought, I also grabbed a notebook. Knowing Yumi, if she didn't want to be found she wouldn't be. I would probably be sitting in the principal's office for a couple of hours.

_This would be a good time to do some drawing. I haven't done that in a while._

I walk with Sissi back to the principal's office in silence. After being told to wait for a while in the outer office, I sit down and begin my music homework. The 12 major scales were due today, but since I had just got there, the teacher decided to give me en extra day to do them. I work quickly and silently, this stuff comes easily to me.

_Good thing mom signed me up for piano lessons while I was still young. I knew I would need some music skills later_.

After finishing my homework, it was only 5:00. I have been sitting here for a half-an-hour, and I'm bored. I pull out my notepad, and start drawing. I draw a girl with pink hair. She has elf ears, with two short pink lines coming out from her eyes. She is actually quite pretty. I have no idea who she is; she's just a doodle. I stop for a second and admire my work.

_Weird. It looks pretty close to Aelita, as if she was some kind of video game character. The hair is a little different, and she has elf ears, but other than that, it's a close resemblance._

I take my drawing and label it 'Aelita' just for fun. I'll show it to her later. On the back I start drawing again. Just some little symbol that came into my head. It's one circle in the middle, with two rings around it. The outer ring has four thicker lines coming out of it, one on top and three on the bottom. I label it X.A.N.A. Just another name that popped into my head. I just start doodling on another piece of paper. Random lines here and there… I stop and look at it.

Now that's creepy. It looks like Odd, Yumi, and Ulrich in a video game. Why am I imagining everybody in video games? Ulrich looks pretty cool as a samurai, the Geisha warrior looks good on Yumi, and Odd… a catboy seems appropriate for Odd.

I examine more of my doodle, they seem to be fighting some machines. That one looks like a crab, that one looks like a hornet, and that looks like a cannonball… This is weird. Usually my doodles don't look this detailed.

Another word just popped into my head. 'Lyoko.' I decide that this is what I'll call this little video game. Lyoko… it fits. I look at the clock. It's 5:45.

Wow, Yumi's pretty good. She managed to evade Jim for this long- oh wait there she is.

Yumi and Ulrich just stepped through the door of the office, followed closely by Jim.


	13. Sissi's Revenge?

**_Sorry for the long wait, i've been grounded off the computer. I can get on, but only for small amounts at a time. sry._  
****

* * *

Flashback**

"You need to tell us Ulrich, we won't ever look at him the same now until we know what happened." Yumi says quietly.

"Don't ask me to do that, I just can't." Ulrich says.

"Ulrich we need to know." Jeremie says more forcefully.

"I can't do that!" Ulrich yells before turning away and running from sight.

**End Flashback**

(Yumi P.O.V.)

I walked away from the factory, going to the most likely spot Ulrich would be. He has this tree in the park that he always goes to when he's upset. I walk in the park, trying to remember where that particular tree was.

"If you came to get me to tell his secret, it's not going to work." Ulrich says. I smile. How romantic, the ominous voice from nowhere. I look up and sure enough, there he is, sitting on a low branch.

"I didn't. I came to apologize. We, no I shouldn't have asked you to betray his trust. And I also came to give you a proper thank you."

"A thank you? For what?"

"For what you did on Lyoko."

"I was being stupid."

"Did you mean what you said?" I ask, wanting confirmation it wasn't a dream. Last night I had a nightmare again about how Ulrich started dating Sissi…

"With all my heart." He replies.

"Then you did the right thing. I don't think anyone else would have been willing to sacrifice himself so that his loved ones could stay alive. Even if it's only for one more battle."

"Thank you Yumi."

"Now come down here and give your girlfriend a kiss." I say sweetly as he jumps down.

"Girlfriend? I don't remember ever asking you out…"

"Well, I believe I am giving you the perfect opportunity right now."

"I see. Yumi will you... will you go out with me?"

"Yes I will." I say and throw my arms around him. Kind of hard considering he's just barely taller than I am. (A/N: This takes place about a year after the end of season 1. That's why they're in 9th grade. I made Ulrich have a little growth spurt. He is about an inch taller than Yumi)

Ulrich pulls away, only to give me a sweet kiss.

"Was that good enough for our first kiss?" He says.

"Perfect." I reply and kiss him again. It was there that Jim found us.

"Hey you two, break it up. Ishiyama, I have been looking all over for you, the principal needs to see you."

"Why Jim?"

"You'll find out soon enough. Stern, you might as well come too, this concerns you as well."

"Okay Jim." Ulrich, Jim, and I walk off to the school (Ulrich and I holding hands of course) and to the principal's office. It's there that we see Macas, sitting in the outer office, drawing a picture.

(Macas P.O.V.)

I quickly stash my drawings and homework in my backpack and head inside with Ulrich and Yumi.

"Yes, Ms. Ishiyama, Mr. Stern, Mr. Keloly, welcome. Ms. Ishiyama, you may have a seat. I'm sure the gentlemen would be perfectly fine standing." I give a nod to Yumi and she sits down in the only chair.

"Jim, you may leave now. I believe I can handle this."

"Yes sir." Jim leaves.

"Yes now, I have been informed that Mr. Keloly here has hurt you Ms. Ishiyama. In the description of the witness, you were in the field when Mr. Keloly punched you in the stomach. Then he proceeded to ruthlessly punch and kick you until Mr. Stern over here decided to intervene. He knocked out your assailant and carried you away. The witness then said that she overheard a conversation between Mr. Stern and Ms. Ishiyama. She was saying that she didn't want to turn in Mr. Keloly, but Mr. Stern was arguing against it. He wanted him to be brought to justice, and then the witness couldn't hear anymore."

We all stand (in Yumi's case sit) there shocked. I would beat Yumi ruthlessly in a field? No way!

"Sir, that's not true! Macas did not attack me!" Yumi was practically in tears.

"I didn't do it." I say, hopelessly defending myself. I had already explained myself before; he did not trust me.

"And I did not knock him out!" Ulrich says.

"Unfortunately, I am disinclined to believe you. Mr. Ishiyama called me on Sunday and told me that his daughter had come home wounded, and that he believed it was Mr. Stern and his friend, Mr. Della-Robbia. Mr. Della-Robbia has a record of previous times he has gotten in trouble."

Yumi looked shocked that her father would do that.

"I also told him that I believed that Ulrich and Odd would not do that!" Yumi says. She is nearly crying, I can see the tears welling up in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, but victims have been known to defend their attackers. According to my witness, you did just that."

"Why would Macas hurt Yumi, he had absolutely no reason to." Ulrich says.

"Did you read the school paper this morning? It had an article…" Mr. Delmas proceeded to explain what had been in the article. I didn't really listen, I had just thought of something…

"Sir, how do you explain that your witness said that I attacked Yumi, but Yumi's father said that Ulrich and Odd did it?" I ask after he had finished.

Ulrich looks relieved.

_Finally, a loophole in the story, something to prove it false._

"I actually believe what Mr. Ishiyama said was true, except that Mr. Stern used Mr. Keloly to hurt Ms. Ishiyama so that he could rescue her. In order to impress her."

_Damn. He figured some way around that. What else could I use to prove my innocence? I am not going to tell him I am not hurt from Ulrich's attack, I would have to show him my bruises and that would make it worse. I can't think of anything else that would help me…_

"There is one last bit of evidence that proves you're guilty. Last Friday, we installed new security cameras. They caught Mr. Keloly beating Ms. Ishiyama."

WHAT? How could he have done that? I never have done that; there is no way he could have proof from a security camera!

"This is an original CD from the camera by the field. I will play it now."

(Ulrich P.O.V.)

We stare in horror as he plays the CD on his computer. It shows A kid who looks a lot like Macas walking up to Yumi in the field, and push her a little off screen. We see her slap him and he falls back a little, back into screenshot. He punches her in the stomach hard and she falls to the ground. Macas starts to hit and kick her while she is on the ground. Then it shows me. I fly onscreen and knock Macas to the ground with a flying kick. He hits the ground, already unconscious. I look over at Macas with a look that could kill, then pick up Yumi and carry her off screen. The movie ends, and we just stand in shock.

"Because of the school constitution, and the fact that you remain adamant that you are innocent, you will be given a trial with your peers as the Jury." Says Mr. Delmas, breaking the silence.

"Thank you sir."

"I don't know what good it will do to have a trial, this clip is certifiable evidence. You will be expelled and sent away. I am sorry."

"I understand Mr. Delmas, you are just doing your job." Macas says.

"Sir, can I have that CD? I would like to look at it." I say quickly.

"I'm not sure. How do I know you will bring it back?"

"If I don't bring it back in time for the trial, expel me too." I say.

"Okay, I understand. Just know that I don't want to expel you. But I will keep you to your word. I will sign the cover of it to make sure this is the one I get back." He signs it with a black sharpie and hands it to me.

"Thank you sir." I say, and help Yumi get out of her chair. She is still limping slightly, William really hurt her badly. Mr. Delmas notices and looks concerned.

"Ms. Ishiyama, are you hurt? Do you want to go to the infirmary?"

"No thank you sir, I will be fine." Yumi says and we walk out of the room, followed by Macas.

"Okay, I trust you Macas. I know that all of us know that you never hurt Yumi, and that I never had to stop you. I don't want you expelled any more than Yumi does." I say.

"Thanks. Why did you want a that CD? It's not like there's much to study."

"I'm going to have Jeremie take a look at it and see if it has been tampered with."

"But you heard him, he said it came directly from the camera. No possible way it could have be changed."

"I know."

"Macas, I have to apologize for my father's actions. I did not realize he would take it to this extreme." Yumi says, so nicely it was hard to realize that she changed the subject.

"That's okay Yumi. I understand what it's like to have a father who takes things to the extreme." Macas says. I give him a look.

_Does he mean what I think he means? It seems like he wants to tell her._

"So does this mean you two finally got together?" I smile. The ever-observant Macas. He noticed that while walking, I immediately took hold of Yumi's hand.

"What do you mean finally? You've only been here a couple of days!" Yumi says.

"Yah, well it was obvious from day one."

"Yah, everyone seemed to know it but us." I remark, and we laugh.

"I'll see you later Macas. I've got to go home. That is if Ulrich wants to take me home now…"

"Of course. I'll meet up with you at dinner okay?" I say

"Sure."

"See you later." I say and walk with my Japanese girlfriend towards the front gates.

(Macas P.O.V.)

I wave goodbye to Yumi and Ulrich, and look at my watch.

_It's 6:15. I'd better hurry or I'm going to miss my meeting with Millie_.

I walk over to the cafeteria and see little Millie standing there with a tape recorder.

"Hello, you wanted to ask me some questions?" I say.

"Um yes. If you don't mind."

"No of course not."

"Okay, you're good friends with Ulrich Stern, right?"

"Yes, fairly well."

"What do you think about the whole affair?"

"That depends on what affair you're talking about."

"You mean you don't know?"

"I have no clue what you're talking about."

"Well, I got an anonymous tip this morning saying that you and Yumi Ishiyama were going out behind Ulrich's back."

"What?"

"And that you and Yumi got in a fight over in the field. Ulrich then came to her rescue and knocked you unconscious because he was jealous." Millie says, a little too excited.

"Okay, do you mind if I set your information straight?"

"Sure, but it was in this morning's newspaper. The whole school has been talking about it. That's why I was surprised you didn't know."

_Oh, so that's what the principal was talking about._

"Oh great… Anyway, first off, Yumi and I are not dating in any way whatsoever. Second, I did not attack Yumi in the field so Ulrich did not have to come to her rescue. I don't know where you got that tip, but someone was probably just spreading rumors."

"Oh. I'm sorry for the mix up. We'll print the corrections in tomorrow's paper."

"Thank you for talking to me. I don't want to have that kind of reputation."

"No problem."

I walk away shaking my head.

_How could this mess have started? Why is there this big deal about me and Yumi having a fight? I have no clue where that would have even started. Yumi has been limping, maybe she did get in a fight. But why does everyone think it's with me?_

(Ulrich P.O.V.)

"Hey Yumi?" I say to Yumi. We are walking home after we talked to Macas, and have been quiet this entire time,

"Yes Ulrich?"

"This is not good."

"I know."

"How are we going to explain this to Macas? That a demonic artificial intelligence possessed William and had him attack you, then tampered with the tape to make it seems as though he did it? It's kinda far fetched."

"So that's what you think happened? You think XANA modified the CD so it looked like it was Macas attacking me and not William?"

"Yes. You notice how you never clearly saw Macas' face in the entire clip? We assumed it was him because of what he was wearing. All we really saw was the top of his head."

"I guess so. Why did you want the CD?"

"If XANA modified it, then I think Jeremie can un-modify it."

"I hope so." Yumi said leaning her head on Ulrich's shoulder.

"Are you still mad about the William thing?" She asks after a minute.

"Not really. I now know that XANA tweaked the circumstances to make it look that way. Probably to split us up. Here we are." I say as we arrive at her house.

"Thank you for walking me home Ulrich." She says and walks up to the door.

"What? No goodnight kiss?"

"Hmm…" she says sweetly. She comes back down and gives me a long tender kiss, only breaking apart for air.

"Goodnight…" She says and walks into her house.

"Goodnight… my love." I say quietly. Then I turn around and begin my walk home.


	14. Inspiration and Arguments

_**Because I didn't update for almost a week, I decided to give another chappy today. This chappy's kinda emotional at the end, sorry, it had to happen.  
**_

* * *

(Macas P.O.V.) 

After setting Millie straight, I walked back towards my dorm.

_This is one big predicament. I have a feeling that Yumi and Ulrich actually remember something like that, and Yumi was limping a little bit… I think that it actually did happen. Just not with me._

I walk inside my room and close the door. I walk over to the desk and grab a piece of paper and pencil. I begin to jot down notes.

_Let's see here…  
1) Yumi's limping. That means she must be hurt.  
2) Ulrich and Yumi avoided the topic as much as possible.  
3) Ulrich specified that **I **didn't attack Yumi, he never said **no one** attacked Yumi.  
4) Ulrich wanted the CD, even though he knew it came directly from the camera. He must think that someone tampered directly with the camera._

I look at my notes and sigh. There's not much to go off of. Nothing to prove I am not guilty. The testimony of three teenagers at a trial will pale in comparison of a actual video recording of the incident. I rack my brain for anything else that could have been missed, something that discredits the tape. I come up with nothing.

_Well, it looks like I am going to have a short stay here too. Not like I'm not used to packing and unpacking…_

I pull out my drawing from earlier and look at it. Wow, what an amazing drawing. I usually doodle when I'm bored, but this? This is different. It's as if something guided my hand. I see Odd as a catboy, jumping out of the way of a laser from a block with legs. I see Ulrich the samurai, with sword ready, deflecting a laser from a mechanical crab. Then Yumi, the geisha girl, blocking a bolt with a Japanese-style fan. She has another one, throwing it like a Frisbee, slicing through a hornet. All of this in a north pole-style glacier setting. I see Aelita in the background, hiding behind a small wall, waiting for something. On the other side of the picture, a large organic-looking tower, glowing with an aura. And then what I labeled it.

"Lyoko." I say out loud.

_What could it be? I've never heard of anything called Lyoko, but the name just fits. Well, I've got nothing else to do, I might as well draw myself as a video game character. Ulrich, Odd, Yumi, and Aelita have them, why not me? Here I go…_  
After about 3 failed tries, I calm myself down. I try to remember that feeling I had when I drew the first picture. I search through my mind until I find the right emotion. Not of excitement, not of amazement, but of peace. Then I begin to draw. I draw steadily, and like before, it feels like my hand is being guided. I draw myself, and it comes out well. I am wearing a dark shirt with a loose vest over top it. A belt that has no buckle. Nice, comfortable, baggy pants. Sturdy boots. (A/N: Imagine something like a Jedi) I almost put in a cape, but no. That isn't for this character. I imagine him in different shades of red, and it fits well.

_I need a weapon._

I feel no mysterious guidance on this one. I must choose my own weapon. I run through a list of weapons in my head.

_Let's see. Yumi has her fans, which can attack and block. No… that doesn't seem like something for me. I suck at frisbee. Odd has… what does Odd have?_

I look back at my doodle. Odd is dodging a block, but he has his arm out in the right direction for a shot. I look closer and see a small dash mark in front of his fist.

_He's got some kind of projectile. An arrow of sorts. No, too much offense. He doesn't have any defensive power. Then there's Ulrich… now I like that idea. I have always been interested in swords. But the katana is kind of one-sided. It only works if you hit it the right way. I'll give myself a sword, but it will be different._

I start drawing a wide, slowly curving blade. I decide it won't be metal, it will be pure energy. It's a broad sword, curving slightly, and completely flat. I draw a small aura around it.

_Yah, that seems right._

I felt that mysterious guidance again as I put in his sword. It looks just right. I label the picture 'Macas Keloly' and put it away.

_I don't think I'll show them this right away. They might think I'm crazy. "Hey guys, I have just invented my own video game and made us into characters! Won't it be cool? I even named it Lyoko!" Yah right, they'll send me packing._

I look at my clock. 8:46. I decide to go and take my shower, so that no one will see me. I grab some spare clothes and head for the showers.

I take a nice warm shower. I notice that some of my older bruises are gone, some of the newer ones are fading fast, and that one Odd gave me doesn't hurt anymore.

_Cool, pretty soon I can take a shower in the morning like a normal person._

I walk back to my dorm and fall into a deep sleep, happy to forget my troubles so far.

(Yumi P.O.V.)

After I gave Ulrich his goodnight kiss (the thought still makes me giggle inside. I'm finally going out with Ulrich) I walk inside. There I see my father, red from anger. I can tell right away that this is going to be a long and ugly argument.

"Yumi! What the HELL are you doing with that boy?" He yells at me.

"He walked me home dad, he didn't want anything else to happen to me." I say calmly. _Maybe if I act calm, he will calm down. I'd better not tell him Ulrich is my boyfriend or he will totally flip out._

"So why did you kiss him afterwards?" He yells at me.

_Shit. He saw us from the window. This is not going to be good. Well, honest **usually** is the best policy. I am going to tell him the truth and hope he goes easy on me._

"Because… he's my…" I begin. I can't bring myself to finish. I can barely believe it myself…

"Just say it!"

"Because he's my boyfriend!" I yell at him and push past him towards the living room. I sit down on the couch and wait for the real argument to begin.

"YUMI! I am not done talking to you!" He yells at me from the hallway.

"Well, I am!" I yell back.

"Why Ulrich? Why not that nice boy, William?" He says, his voice lowering, just slightly.

"Because I only like William as a friend." I say calmly again. I can't take much more of this. My emotions are starting to try and fight their way out, most likely in the form of me sobbing and yelling at my father at the same time.

"And you like this punk Ulrich more? You know that I hate him."

"Ulrich is not a punk dad! He saved my life more times than I can count!"

Shit! If I say any more, he's going to make me tell him about Lyoko.

I turn away and stop talking.

"Why do you want Ulrich? What makes him more special than William?"

"Because I love Ulrich!" I blurt out. My father looks stunned at the news, and I look happy. I finally caught my father off guard.

"I love Ulrich. William is a nice guy, but not for me. He has asked me out on several occasions. I refused him on every account."

"I KNEW IT! THAT STUNT HE PULLED WITH HIS FRIEND WORKED! IT IMPRESSED YOU AND YOU LIKE HIM NOW!" He shouts.

"HE DID NOT DO THAT!" I shout back.

"Dear, maybe we should let this alone. Yumi has every right to chose who she wants to date, so I say go for it. As long as she doesn't get pregnant."

"I won't Mom, don't worry. I have no interest in raising a child right now."

"You always take her side! Well I've had enough. I'M LEAVING!" My father shouts and quickly runs out the door. We all stare in shock as my father leaves and we hear the engine rev up and pull out of the driveway; speeding off into the night.

I burst into tears. I can't hold it in anymore. My father left? How could he do that? I know my father, once he does something, there is no way he will take it back. My mother and I hold each other and cry for a good half hour before Hiroki comes in.

"What's wrong?" He asks bewildered. He has obviously been over at a friend's house this entire time. My mother just kneels down and hold him tight. I walk out the door, I need to think.

* * *

_**Well, you can tell that Yumi's dad leaving will not be a good thing. Unfortunately, he will not come back all happy and forgiving. Sorry to all those who like him, it has to happen.**_


	15. All night

_**And in honor of my 15th birthday, here is chappy #15! Hurray! This is my 3rd chappy today, hope that makes up for missing during the week.**_

* * *

(Ulrich P.O.V.) 

I walk home in blissful peace that night. I just made a new girlfriend, and we were both happy as can be. I walk into my dorm and there sits Odd, strumming away on his guitar. He stops when I enter.

"How'd it go?" He says

"How's what go? I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, come on. You and I both know that after our meeting in the factory, Yumi went to find you and you two ended up together. Ah, that proves it, your blushing."

I was indeed blushing, so I compromised by throwing a pillow at him. He dodged.

"So, how'd it go?"

"It went just fine Odd. And yes you're right, Yumi is my girlfriend now. Macas and you are the only ones who know, and I'd like to keep it that way."

"Why does Macas get the privilege of knowing before me? I've know you for years, he's only known you for a couple of days!"

"He figured it out by himself. After we came out of the principal's office, he noticed me holding Yumi's hand."

"Why were you in the principal's office?"

"Okay, the weirdest thing. You remember how XANA possessed William and attacked Yumi? Well, the security camera caught it on tape."

"Okay, isn't that a good thing? Now William is going to get expelled."

"Wrong. On the CD from the camera, a **direct **video from the camera, it showed **Macas** beating up Yumi, and I saved her."

"That is not good."

"No it's not. Macas is being held for student trial, and if he loses, he will get expelled."

"So just have you Yumi and Macas testify that none of you remember ever doing that."

"Testify, hmmm. That's three syllables Odd, I'm impressed."

"Not funny."

"Anyway, a video tape would easily outweigh the fact that three teenagers said that they don't remember that happening. I got the CD, and I'm hoping Jeremie can shed some light on it."

"What could Jeremie do? It's not like he can change it without the principal noticing, and then Jeremie would be expelled for tampering with evidence."

"I think XANA messed with the original video, and if he can mess with it, Jeremie can undo it. I hope."

"Good thinking, we'll work on it tomorrow." And with that, Odd crawled under the covers and promptly fell asleep. I laughed and drifted off to sleep too.

I was awoken in the middle of the night by a soft knocking on the door. Because I was so tired last night, I forgot to put in my earplugs. Luckily, Odd wasn't snoring all **that** much. Oh well, back to the subject. There was a soft knock on the door and I went to go answer it. And to my utmost surprise it was Yumi, tear-stained and sad, but still Yumi.

"Yumi! What's the matter?" I say as I lead her into my room. We sit down on my bed, and I hold her close.

"Ulrich, we n-need to talk. But not here, somewhere else."

"Okay, just a sec." I say, realizing I was sitting there in my boxers and a white undershirt.

"Okay…" She says quietly and turns away.

I quickly pull on some blue jeans and a green shirt and lead Yumi out the door.

"Where do you want to go?" I ask gently.

"Anywhere." She says.

I lead her to my favorite tree in the park, where we first kissed earlier that day. She is silent until we reach it, tears running silently down her face.

"Yumi, what's wrong? I haven't ever seen you this upset." I say and sit down. She sits next to me, crying harder.

"Ulrich… oh Ulrich! He left!" Yumi managed to say before she starts sobbing into my shoulder.

"What? Who left?" I say bewildered.

"My… my father."

"What? What kind of father would do that? No, wait, don't answer that. Why did he leave?"

"He saw you, he saw you and me kissing on the porch. We got in a big fight. We were yelling back and forth. My mom said that maybe I could date whomever I want. Then he yelled about how she always sided with me and he left."

"He'll come back Yumi, he can't just abandon his family like that!"

"I know my father. This was the last straw, he's not coming back. He never liked you, he never wanted me going to school here. I was lucky I got to be a day student." She says through the tears.

"Don't worry Yumi, I'll help you find a way to make it work. I won't let anything bad happen to you or your family." I say. When I promise something like that. I mean it.

_I will help Yumi and her Mother and Brother. I will not let anything happen to them!_

"Promise?"

"I absolutely promise. Nothing bad will happen, I won't let it." I say reassuringly.

"Thank you Ulrich." She says and stops crying long enough to kiss me. Then she starts sobbing into my chest. I just hold her and stroke her hair. I take out my cell phone and look at the time. 12:56.

_This is gonna be a long night. I might as well make the best of it. Wait a minute, if I dropped her off around 10, she must have been wandering around alone in the dark for nearly three hours!_

I make my self comfortable and hold Yumi tight. After about twenty minutes, she falls asleep.

_She must be exhausted. We finally got together, and Yumi's dad leaves! Why does everything good in our lives have to be spoiled rotten? We discover Aelita, and awaken XANA. We finally materialize Aelita and XANA implanted a virus in her. Aelita gets to stay in our world, but she has recurring nightmares. Yumi and I finally get together, but her dad leaves because of it. It's not fair, why does everything bad happen to us? Yumi has been hit one of the hardest, it's no wonder she's breaking down. I will not let this happen any more!_

Not wanting to wake her up, I just sit there. And that's how we stay all night.

* * *

_**Wow, nice way to end the chappy. anywayz, R&R, I love seeing reviews. I've been grounded of the computer, i don't know how often I can update from now on. Good thing I've got the next couple of chappys written out. Or mostly. Whatever.**_  



	16. Odd's Jealous?

**And another chappy! Enjoy...**

* * *

(Ulrich P.O.V.) 

I stay awake all night, Yumi fast asleep in my arms. We keep each other warm. Good thing it isn't a cold night anyway, or else I would be freezing. All I have on is a pair of jeans and a shirt. Finally, when dawn begins to show, Yumi stirs. I check my cell phone; it's nearly 5:00.

"Good morning beautiful." I say when she is awake.

"Good morning handsome." She says back and sits up. "Was I like that all night?"

"You betcha." I say. I stand up and stretch.

"What time is it?" She asks, standing up as well.

"About five." I reply

"How much sleep did you get?"

"Before you came and woke me up in my dorm, about three hours."

"I mean after that."

"Uhh… none."

"You stayed awake all night? Just for me?"

"Of course. I told you last night, actually it was earlier, that I would do anything for you. That includes staying awake all night to make sure you get some sleep."

"That's so sweet of you…" She says and kisses me.

"Well, that made my whole night worth it." I say and she blushes. "Now you had better get home, your Mom is probably worried sick about where you are."

"Would you care to escort me?"

"I couldn't think of any better way to start my day." I say and I walk her home.

"Thank you Ulrich, I couldn't ask for any better. I'll see you at school. I love you."

"I love you too. Bye." I walk back to school to get ready. I get there and take a shower. The perk to waking up at five, and being in the showers by 5:30 is that no one else is crazy enough to be up that early. I finish by six, and some of the early-birds are starting to drift in. I walk back to my room to find an awake Odd.

"Hey Ulrich, where have you been? I woke up about an hour ago, and you weren't here."

"Why were you up at five?" I ask, avoiding the subject.

"I dunno, I just kinda woke up. Don't avoid the question, why were you gone all night?"

"I wasn't gone all night, just from about 1:00 onward."

"You're still avoiding the question."

"Okay, okay. Yumi showed up her about one last night and was in tears. She wouldn't tell me why here, so I took her to the park."

"Go on."

"Well, it turns out that her father saw Yumi kiss me last night when I dropped her off, and they had a big fight."

"Oh my god, is everything okay?"

"No. Yumi's father left them. She told me and then started crying on my shoulder. Soon she fell asleep, and I didn't want to wake her up, so I stayed there until about an hour ago. I took her home, then came here and took a shower."

"Oh my god. How is Yumi going to cope with this? The last time her father left, she wouldn't talk to us for days. But wait, if she came here at one and you didn't leave until five, how much sleep did you get?"

"About three hours before she came. Then I stayed up all night."

"You stayed up all night with Yumi? Boy oh boy. You must really be in love with her."

"You guessed it Odd. More than I can describe."

"Come on Romeo, let's go get some breakfast." He says laughing.

"What's so funny Odd?"

"Oh nothing. I think it's funny that you believe you will always love Yumi."

"I will." I say quickly.

"Yah right, this is just a high school crush. You'll be over Yumi by the end of the year, I guarantee it."

"You know what Odd? I think you're just jealous. I have my perfect Yumi, Jeremie and Aelita have each other, but you have no one." I sit back comfortably.

"Nah, I'm not jealous. I have years to go before I have to decide which girl is right for me. I'm content for right now to just date a couple of girls in school."

"You mean **all** the girls in school."

"So? What's your point? Actually, hold on. I haven't dated Yumi, Aelita or Sissi."

"Good. Let's go have breakfast."

"Best idea I've heard all day, let's go grab Macas and leave."

"Okay. After breakfast I need to come back here really quick. Then we'll go to class."

"What for?"

"I'll tell you later." I say, and walk out the door. We find Macas in his room, drawing a picture. It's pretty good, it's a picture of his computer.

"Hey nice drawing. Let's go have breakfast." I say.

"Okay, just a second… there." He finishes the last touch and stands up. We walk over to breakfast to find that they haven't opened the cafeteria yet.

"What time is it?" Odd asks to no one in general.

"About uh…" Macas says and he pull out a cell phone. "6:32."

"Hey, I didn't know you had a cell phone. What's your number?"

"It's 253-891-6225. Do you have cells?" (A/N: Random numbers please don't call)

"Yah." We say and give him our numbers.

"This will be good, in case we need to call each other." Odd says. "Just in case."

"Hey Ulrich. Remember that dream I told you about? How I knew what was happening yesterday like I had already done it?"

"Yah." I shake my head slightly at Odd, telling him to keep his mouth shut.

"Well, in it, Jeremie called me on my cell phone, telling me to get everyone out of the auditorium. I hadn't told anyone I even had a cell phone. Do you think Jeremie would have had a way to find mine out?"

"I'm sure Jeremie would have found a way. Here he comes now, why don't you ask him yourself?" I say and there he is, with Aelita on his arm.

"Hey guys, what are you doing up this early?"

"I don't know, we just kinda woke up. It's too bad that the cafeteria doesn't open until 7:00" Odd says.

"Yah, well it's about two minutes 'till, we don't have to wait long." Aelita says.

"Hey Jeremie, do you know of anyway you could have found out about my cell phone? Like the number?"

"Easy. Did you put it down on the registration form?"

"Yah."

"It's not hard to hack into the school's computer system. I could easily find it from there. What's your number? I'll give you mine." He says. They exchange numbers.

"The lunchroom's open now, let's go eat." Macas says.

"Finally! I'm starving!" Odd yells and runs inside before anyone else.

"Come on, we need to get some before Odd gets thirds." Jeremie says and we walk inside.

"Hey Jeremie, can I talk to you for a second? Over there?"

"Sure Ulrich." As soon as we were out of earshot, I pulled him aside and explained the whole situation with Macas.

"Why would XANA want to frame Macas?"

"I don't know, but I know that it was XANA controlling William, not Macas attacking Yumi. Here's the original CD, can you check it out?"

"Sure. Anything to help him out. I'm going to get out of the way now, your girlfriend is coming." He says almost laughing and I look at him funny.

_How does he know Yumi is my girlfriend?_

Anyway, I turn around to find not Yumi, but Sissi.

_Oh great. Just what I needed._

"What do you want Sissi, I don't want to talk to you." I say coldly. I really am not in the mood for this right now.

"I was just wondering when you were finally going to stop chasing after Yumi and go after a pretty girl like me." She says in the annoying high-pitched voice of hers.

I smile. "I have stopped chasing her."

"Really?" She squeals, like she can't believe her ears. She latches onto my arm like a leech.

_Ow, that hurt. That squeal almost broke my eardrums._

"Yah. I finally stopped chasing her because she is mine now. And there she is. So if you would mind returning the circulation to my arm, I would like to go and meet my girlfriend." I laugh as Sissi's grip falls slack, and I walk over to Yumi, kissing her on the cheek. 

"How's it going beautiful?" I ask her as I lead her over to the table.

"Not bad handsome." She replies and kisses me before sitting down. I get whistles from all over the lunchroom, but I can't hear them. I'm too busy trying to get the feeling back into my legs, for they had turned to jelly. Luckily, it only lasted for a moment, and I sat down across from Jeremie, my normal spot.

"Finally." Aelita says as soon as I sit down.

"What do you mean finally?" I ask

"You two have finally gotten together. It took you long enough." Jeremie says.

"Yah, even I knew that. I've only been here a couple of days." Macas replies.

_I think everyone, well everyone except Macas, has been waiting for this since the incident on Lyoko._

"So what finally got you two together?" Macas asks.

"I went to go apologize to him, and we just kinda ended up together." Yumi replies, obviously trying to avoid the subject.

"What did you need to apologize for?" He asks again.

"Oh, nothing. Just some little thing and I overreacted. It's all in the past now." I say.

"Hey Macas, have you ever had a girlfriend?" Odd asks.

"Nah, I haven't found any girl that I really wanted to date."

"See Ulrich, Macas is in no hurry either." Odd says, looking at me smugly.

"What's that all about?" Jeremie asks.

"Oh nothing. I just said Odd was jealous because he hasn't found a girlfriend to last him for more than one month. We were just kidding around." I say.

"Hey! Tyffanie lasted for a month and three days." Odd says feigning offense.

"Okay, a month and three days it is." I concede.

"Wow Odd, you're quite the ladies-man." Macas says laughing slightly.

"Yah, this is his description: Odd: walking stomach, ladies-man, lives up to name." Yumi says and we all have a good laugh. Then the bell rings.

"Well, I got to go to math Ulrich. I'll see you later."

"Come on Yumi, I'll walk you there. I've got math with you anyway." Macas says and gets up to leave.

"Bye Ulrich, I'll see you in third period." Yumi says and gives me a kiss on the cheek.

"Bye. Let's go Odd, or we'll be late for English."

"Okay, just let me finish really quick." He scarfs down the last of his meal and stands up.

"Let's go." He says and we walk away to first period.

* * *

**Okay... I liked this one. It's kinda just filler, better stuff later. There's a little bit of foreshadowing in here, let's see if you can figure it out. By the way, I did the math: only .07 percent of the people who read this story review it! That's pitiful! come on, i've had like 600 hits, and only 40 somethin reviews. I want some more! Please R&R, it means a lot to a writer!**


	17. Eavesdropping

**I officially didicate this chappy to Angels 'n' dreams. One of the ones who reviews the most, and wished me a happy birthday (also my 50th reviewer, i think). Thanks!**

* * *

(Ulrich P.O.V. just after lunch) 

The rest of the day goes smoothly. Odd failed another math test, Macas, Odd, and I sat bored in music class. Odd and I don't like music, but Macas is a music genius. Everything just comes easy to him. We sat bored through Science and P.E. was boring. We just ran the mile, AGAIN. That's the third time this month. I think Jim is trying to kill us. What a drag. Then we went to lunch.

"Oh Ulrich dear!" Sissi comes over to our table.

"What do you want now Sissi? I already told you I'm going out with Yumi."

"I was just wondering when you were going to pick me up."

"Pick you up for what?"

"Our date silly. You know you just wanted to date Yumi to get me really jealous. And now I am. Come on, dump her and go out with a real girl!"

"You know, I would if I could."

"Really? You're just going to make a lame joke again, aren't you?"

"No, of course not. I'm going to tell you the truth."

_Man this is going to be good. It's taking all I have just to refrain from laughing._

"Really?"

"Yes of course. I would love to date any girl at this table. Unfortunately, Aelita is taken, and seeing as I'm already dating Yumi, I've already accomplished my goal. Thank you, you may leave now." I say as the others burst out laughing.

"Actually Ulrich, you forgot me. I'm a girl!" Sissi says as a last resort.

I feign extreme surprise, even doing a triple-take. "YOU"RE A GIRL? Holy shit, I never knew that!" I say, and everyone else is just laughing. They can't help themselves, they just keep laughing while Sissi just stomps away again.

"Ulrich, did you really mean that? Would you really date me?" Aelita says.

"You're a really nice girl Aelita, but you belong with Jeremie, and I belong with Yumi. That's just the way it is."

"Okay, I was just making sure." She says, looking relieved.

Lunch ends, we all go laughing to our next classes, but I pull Yumi back for a second.

"Are you doing okay Yumi?"

"I was pretty sad earlier during math, but I've been doing better since then. Thank you for caring."

"I just want you to know… I told Odd. He is my best friend and I tell him just about everything."

"That's perfectly okay. I'm going to tell Jeremie and Aelita after school."

"What about Macas?"

* * *

(Macas P.O.V.) 

After lunch we all walked over to the main courtyard, most of the classrooms branched off from there. Well, all of us except for Yumi and Ulrich.

"Hey, what happened to Ulrich and Yumi?" I say looking around.

"Oh great. We lost 'em. They're probably back there making out." Odd says laughing softly.

"I'll go break 'em apart." I say, and walk back off in the direction we came, back towards the lunchroom.

"You might need a crowbar!" Odd yells after me. I just laugh and walk off.

I walk back, taking my time. I still had about ten minutes to go before fifth period. I am about to walk around the corner, when I feel this urge to stop and peek around the corner. To my surprise, I see them, not kissing but just talking in low tones. Like they don't want to be overheard. Unfortunately, I can hear every word.

"What about Macas?" Ulrich says. I tense up.

_Why would they be talking about me?_

"I don't know. I feel if he wants to tell me his secret, I'll tell him this. I know it sounds hard hearted, but I don't feel comfortable around him knowing he's got a secret he's unwilling to tell." Yumi says, looking down.

_I know how you feel._

"I understand. I just want you to know… because I know both, I can judge. And his secret is quite a bit more… I don't know dark. He had some bad things happen to him-"

_Don't say anymore, please don't…_

"Don't say anymore. I don't want you to say anything about it. It's his secret, not yours to tell. Can you tell him something though?"

_Phew, thanks Yumi…_

"Yah, anything."

"Only that I want to know. Not so I can make fun of him, or anything like that. I just want to help."

_Thanks Yumi. You're one of the few._

"I'll tell him. By now, he has probably figured out you're hiding something too, so he will want to know yours. He's a sharp guy, really on the ball. He is probably trying to figure out what Jeremie meant when he said that remark about Aelita. Soon, we might have to tell him about Lyoko anyway."

_Lyoko? Lyoko sounds familiar… that's what I labeled my drawing! And the remark about Aelita… I don't think her computer really has a virus…_

"I know. Tell him to meet me in the park later to… for lack of better term, exchange secrets."

_Should I tell her my secret? I feel like I should. She's been so nice to me… Oh shit, they're going to find me here in a second!_

I quickly walk around the corner to find them kissing.

"Hey guys, you're going to be- oops. Sorry if I interrupted something…" I say casually as they break apart.

"No, it's fine. Let's go to class." We walk off to class, I go over to my computer programming class, while Ulrich and Yumi go off to their separate classes. I find it really difficult to concentrate on my computer, something that doesn't happen very often. Jeremie was right; this class is pretty much a piece of cake. I don't really need to pay attention right now…

_It's so weird. What are the odds that I would label that drawing 'Lyoko' that has all of them in it. And then I hear Ulrich mention Lyoko. It's just too much of a coincidence. What did they mean 'that remark about Aelita'? It was just a remark right? She could Aelita have a computer virus… this is just too complicated to figure out on my own. I need more information._

The rest of the class passes quickly. I meet Ulrich after school by the bench and wait for the others to arrive. They show up, one by one, and we talk a little bit. Then Yumi asks for Jeremie and Aelita to follow her for a second and they exchange knowing looks.

_Yumi must have told them beforehand about this._

"Hey Macas, can I talk to you for a second?" Ulrich asks.

"Sure." I get up and walk away following him.

"What? No one wants to talk with Odd for a second?" Odd says, feigning being offended.

Ulrich looks at me and I give a nod.

"Come on Odd, you can follow in on this talk. I'm not going to say anything you don't already know."

"Yay!" He walks along with us.

"Macas, I did not tell anyone your… secret." Ulrich says carefully, looking at Odd.

"I know."

"I didn't tell Yumi any details, but I did say that you have a horrible past. She wants to help."

"I know Ulrich. I heard a little bit of your conversation earlier."

"How much of that conversation?" He asks, quickly becoming concerned. I see him give a very worried look to Odd.

"Only the part about me and my uh… secret. Why? Was there something else I shouldn't have heard?" I say. I know that if I ask about it, he'll think that I didn't hear it.

"What time do you want to meet her?"

"How about 6:00?"

"That should be fine. Just tell her thanks for caring. I'll be over in my dorm. I have some stuff to do."

"Okay, will do." He says and I walk off.

(Ulrich P.O.V.)

"What was that all about?" Odd asks as we walk off to meet the others.

"Oh nothing." I say and look away.

"Oh come on! I've known you for years, you expect me to believe that crap? Something is up, and I want to know what." Odd says.

"You know that Macas told me his past. Yumi wants to know about it. Macas apparently just agreed to tell her. What more do you want to know?"

"Why am I not every being let on in a secret?" Odd asks, exasperated.

"Did you ever ask?" I say, knowing what the answer will be.

"Good point… do you think I should ask him?"

"If he wanted to tell you, he would have. I assume he's more willing to talk about it now. I'm going back to the dorm for now. See you later." I walk back to the dorm and turn on the computer. I see some hope, I have thirty-two messages. Nope, nothing I want to look at. My e-mail seems to have been leaked out to the school, and now I have about a billion from girls asking how I am. I just delete them all, they're used to getting rejected by me. I send a quick e-mail to Yumi explaining Macas' time he wanted to meet, and I turn off the computer, disappointed.

_Man, this is going to be a boring day, unless..._

_

* * *

**Hope you like it. The next chapter is going to be a fun one, i promise you that much... believe it or not, this story will come to a close pretty soon. I doubt there will be even ten chappys left after this. I only have about eight more planned out, but I'm working on a sequel. I am not going to update the next chappy until I get at least six more reviews...**_

**ps: I have about 700 hits, and only 50 reviews. Keep them coming if you want more story!**


	18. Yumi vs Ulrich

(Yumi P.O.V.)

After I told Jeremie and Aelita about my dad, they looked extremely worried.

"Are you going to be okay?" Aelita asks.

"Yah, I remember when your Mom and Dad were just fighting. You didn't seem to take that very well." Jeremie adds.

"Guys, I'll be okay. I made it through last time because of Ulrich, and we were just friends last time. Now that were going out, I'll make it through. I'm not so sure about my mom though…" I say, looking at my feet.

"I feel so sad for your mom." Aelita says, laying a hand on my shoulder.

"I do too. What about your little brother? Hiroki? How is he going to handle this?" Jeremie asks. I'm amazed he even knows Hiroki's name.

"I think Hiroki will be okay. I don't think he even fully understands. He probably just thinks Dad went away like last time." I say. It's the truth, Hiroki has not said much, but I think he might be in denial even.

"Someday he's going to realize that he's not coming back, and it will be hard. I suspect it will be harder for him, he's going to have to become 'the man of the house.' He will need a lot of help, I don't think he'll be ready." Jeremie says concerned.

"I know. I'm going to go home now, I need to do some stuff." I say.

"Okay, I'll see you later Yumi." Aelita says. She takes Jeremie's hand and walks back towards the school.

_Well, I might as well go home now._

I walk home, and enter to find my mother cooking.

"Hey Mom. Why are you cooking? It's only 3:15."

"I wanted to have a nice dinner. Do you want to invite Ulrich over? I think it would be nice if I got to know him better. I never really got the chance…" She trails off.

"Sure, I'll invite him. I think he would be grateful to come and have a home-cooked meal for once. I don't think he's fond of cafeteria food." I laugh and walk up to my room.

_I think Mom is hurting more than I am. She doesn't like to cook all that much…_

I turn on my computer to find a new e-mail from Ulrich. I open it and see this:

**Yumi,**

**Just want 2 say real quick that Macas agreed. He wants 2 meet u the park at 6:00. I hope that's OK. Just so u know, pretty soon I'm gonna have 2 change my e-mail. Somehow the school got a hold of it and I have about 30 girlz talkin 2 me. I was thinkin somethin along the lines of Supersamurai286 or YumiandUlrichforever286. What do u think?**

**All my love,**

**-Ulrich**

I almost start to e-mail him back, but I decide I want to deliver this news in person. I get up and go downstairs to the kitchen.

"Hey Mom, I'm going to go and invite Ulrich now, okay?"

"Sure honey. Dinner will be at 7:00, just dress normally."

"Okay, I'll tell him." I say and walk out the door, heading to the school. I go to their dorm room to find Odd, making up a new song for their band.

"Hey Odd, what's up?"

"Oh nothing. Just trying out a new song. You looking for Ulrich?"

"Yah, how'd you guess?"

"Why else would you be here?" He says laughing. "I'm not sure where he is, but you might want to check the gym. I saw him earlier in his workout clothes."

"Okay thanks Odd. That's a nice song, I like it." I say as I walk out the door.

"Thanks Yumi, but remember, you have to sing this!" He yells out before I close the door. I laugh and walk out towards the gym. I open the doors and find the mats out, Ulrich on them, and a line of what looks like about ten guys and sixty girls. I came just in time to see Ulrich pin a girl to the mat with his foot, having just taken her down.

"Okay, next!" He says as the girl stands up.

"Nice match." He says and gives the girl a pat on the back.

"Thanks…" She says and walks off the mat. Another girl gets on the mat and in ready position.

_Oh! Ulrich must have come in here, and asked anyone if they wanted to spar with him. No wonder they're mostly girls, they just want to get close to him! Well, two can play at that game…_

I walk over to the other end of the mat and get in line. I see Ulrich take down another girl, and give her a pat on the back too.

"Next!" he calls out. I see him spot me. He gives me a wave, even though he looks confused. I just stand smugly in line, not saying a word. Considering the line, it takes about an hour for me to get up near the front. Some of the guys are pretty good, but Ulrich still wins. Most of the girls look like they haven't really fought in their life. There's a guy in front of me, and Ulrich seems to take his time with him. This guy would be pretty good against a normal opponent, but against Ulrich? He would lose easily. Still, I think Ulrich is stalling against having to fight me.

"Come on Ulrich, just take him out!" Says the girl behind me. At her cue, Ulrich takes him down and pins him to the mat with his foot. I step up to the mat and get in fighting pose.

"Hey Yumi, what's up?" he says taking a step towards me. I just give a spin kick towards his head, slow enough so that he will dodge, but fast enough to get him off guard. He backpedals furiously, and I take a step towards him.

"Come on, don't you want to spar?" I ask playfully, letting a smile creep across my face.

"Oh, I see. You want to spar, do you? Let's go then." He gets in ready position too. We stare at each other for a second, then I make a move. A quick punch towards his chest. He easily dodges and gives me a sharp push on the shoulder, throwing me off balance. I step back, and he comes forward again. I aim another punch at him, and he does the same maneuver. I anticipate his move, and jab him quickly in the chest with my elbow. He steps back surprised.

"I'm impressed. That's the first good blow anyone has landed so far." Right after he finishes talking, I go into a reverse ankle sweep and take his legs out from under him.

"Come on, you should know to never let your guard down." I say mockingly. He just smiles at me tries a reverse ankle sweep on me. I easily jump over it. He jumps up quickly and we fight again. To a normal spectator, it would seem that I am winning by a good margin. But I know better, he's just toying with me. He hasn't thrown one punch.

"Come on, let's pick this up. I don't have time for fun and games." I say. He flashes another smile, and does such a fast kick towards my feet, I barely have time to realize it's coming, let alone react. I fall hard, but jump back up really fast.

"Finally!" I push his shoulder twisting it backwards, bringing my right foot towards his left one. He sidesteps and pushes me back, I grab his arm and flip him over my shoulder, he lands hard on the mat. He quickly jumps back up and resumes his fighting stance.

_Wow, I can still do that?_

"Come on, afraid to hit your girlfriend?" I say smiling. I hear whispers from the crowd that has gathered. 'Did she just say girlfriend?' 'Yah, I think she did!' 'She's probably just trying to rile him up!'

He laughs and aims a punch for my shoulder; I dodge and give him a punch to the chest. I think he has finally decided to end this. He goes into such a complex series of maneuvers and techniques, it's all I can do to block or dodge half of them. After receiving a sharp hit on my lower arm, he pulls my own move against me. He goes into a reverse ankle sweep, throwing me to the floor. Before I hit, I grab him, pulling him down too. All of the sudden, I find us rolling around and laughing on the floor. We stop and he gives me a kiss, which I gratefully return. The crowd is shocked and they start talking in loud voices.

"Well, this was fun." Ulrich says and looks at me.

"Yah, it was." I say, and I stand up.

"You going to give me a hand? I'm exhausted." He says, and he looks it. He's got one elbow propping him up, and has sweat all over him.

"Yah, just one thing first." I take my foot and pin him to the floor. "I win."

"Okay, okay. You win. Can you get your foot off of me now?"

"Sure." I say, and offer my hand. He grabs my hand and stands up.

"Sorry everybody, but Yumi won fair and square. I guess she won the prize."

"What prize?" I say bewildered.

"This." He says and kisses me.

"You offered that as a prize? How could you do that? What if you actually lost?"

"Nah, I just made that up a second ago. Beside, I wouldn't lose if it meant I had to cheat on you." He says and takes my hand leading me off the mat.

"You get extra points. You were the hardest opponent I fought."

"So you weren't just going easy on me because I was your girlfriend?"

"Hell no. Well, maybe a little. You were still hardest."

"What do those extra points give me?"

"How about this?" He says and kisses me again.

"Wow, what a good way to spend points." I say, and he blushes.

"I'll meet you outside in five minutes, okay? I'm going to go change."

"Yah, me too." I say, and head into the girl's locker room.

_He gave me a good workout._

I meet him outside in five minutes as promised and we walk off to his dorm together.

"My mom has invited you to dinner tonight at our house."

"What's the occasion?"

"Oh, nothing. She just wants to get to know you better. She never really got the chance before…" I trail off, remembering my father.

"It's okay Yumi." He says and puts a comforting arm around me. "I would love to go to your house for dinner. I don't much care for cafeteria food.'

"I knew it. We can go after we talk with Macas." I say, thinking. "What time is it anyway?"

He pulls out his cell phone.

"5:15. Just enough time to go back to my dorm and hang out for a while."

"Great."


	19. Exchanging Secrets

(Macas P.O.V.)

_It's 5:45, I guess I had better go and meet Yumi. I'll bet anything Ulrich will be there as well. Those two are going to be inseparable pretty soon._

I walk out of my dorm and lock the door. There's no telling what Sissi might be planning next. I make it down to the park, it's five 'till. I lean against a tree.

_Nothing left to do but wait, I guess…_

I sit there for about thirty seconds when I hear someone walking. I turn around, Ulrich and Yumi are walking down the path, hand in hand.

_Ha! I was right!_

"Hey guys." I say to them.

"Hey Macas…" Yumi says quietly.

"I guess you decided to take up my offer then?"

"Yah…" She says. "I just want to help you in any way possible."

"And I thank you for that. Before I begin, I just want you to promise me that you won't tell anyone. Like I said to Ulrich, this is my secret to tell to whom I chose."

"Don't worry, I promise." She says.

"You don't mind me staying?" Ulrich asks.

"Not at all." I say and Yumi nods.

"Then let's go to my favorite place. It's secluded, no one will overhear us." Ulrich says.

"Okay, lead the way." I follow Ulrich, and he leads us off the path into a group of trees.

"Wow, it's nice here…" I say. "Let me begin now, before I lose my nerve…"

"Go ahead."

"I'm going to warn you, some of the things you are going to hear are horrible. I have had some awful things happen to me and-"

"Just tell me. I can handle it." Yumi interrupts.

"Okay. I told Ulrich the whole version, but I think I'll shorten this one."

"Okay." Yumi says, and waits patiently.

"Let's see… I was born in the United States, five months after my parents were married. I moved around a lot. I was never in the same place for more than six months. I ended up moving to England, and eventually all over the world. I ended up in New York City when I was nine. My parents were fighting a lot, and never seemed to agree. My father would storm off and come back drunk a lot of times. I also had two younger twin sisters, Kailynn and… Karyssa. They were eight at the time."

I pause for a second, remembering. I can feel the tears start to come forth, but I hold them back again.

"One day, I came home from school to find an ambulance in front of my house. My father had shot Kailynn and my mother for protecting her. He called it an accident, but no one believed it." Yumi gave an audible gasp.

"My mother was dead before the ambulance even got there, and Kailynn died later in the hospital. My father was sentenced for six years of prison. During that time, Karyssa and I were sent into foster care, usually being put together. Karyssa was showing signs of high intelligence, and was passing every single test at school with 100 percent. My father was released early for good behavior, and we were put back in his care. I was taken out of school, and put to work. Sometimes I was even a drug smuggler." Yumi gasped again, realizing what that must have meant.

"Were you ever caught?" She asked quietly.

"No cop would ever check a kid on the street for drugs, so I was never caught. If something were to happen, I would be beaten. Around that time, I was beat a lot by my father. Any lack of efficiency, and I would be severely punished.  
I just realized, you haven't seen my wounds, have you?"

"No…" She says quietly.

"Would you like to?"

"If you don't mind…" I remove my jacket. She just stares.

"How could he do such a thing to you?" She asks, tears in her eyes.

"I stay awake at night, wondering that same thing. All these bruises and cuts you see are fairly new, he beat me before taking me to the airport last Friday. That's why I have all these. Karyssa has it worse. My father hated his twin girls, and he proved it. One day a couple of months ago, after school, Karyssa came home in tears. She had ruined her perfect record at school by scoring a 98 percent. My father was drunk and he got mad. He went into the kitchen and grabbed a large knife. He used it to… to stab her in the head."

Yumi stops moving. She even seems to stop breathing. She just stares, the tears flowing freely. Ulrich seems affected too, but he's already heard this. He just lets one simple tear run down his cheek. I look back a Yumi, and she is crying. It's hard to tell, because I realize I am crying as well. Ulrich puts an arm around Yumi, and motions for me to continue.

"Yumi, what can you think of that is worse than death?" I ask her.

"Being without those you love." She answers after a second.

"Is that the absolute worst possible thing you can think of?"

"Yes."

"Well, how about being with those you love, but not being able to remember them? To not know who they are, or why there are there?"

"That would be absolutely horrible…"

"That's what happened to Karyssa. She got to the hospital soon enough that she survived. My father stabbed her in the only place where anyone can be and still survive. She is alive and well today, but she does not remember my mother, my father, her twin, her friends, no one. She remembers me, but only my name. She also knows her name. That took months of work to accomplish. She never remembers anything else for more than twenty-four hours. My father decided to send me here so he wouldn't have to take care of me anymore. Now Karyssa is alone with no one she remembers, and a father that beats her daily." After I finished, Yumi began crying again. I let Ulrich comfort her.

"I'm sorry Yumi."

"Don't be sorry dammit! You have the worst childhood I have ever heard, and you're apologizing because I can't handle myself? My secret is so pathetic compared to yours! I feel do damn stupid! I didn't want to tell you my puny little secret because you wouldn't tell me yours!"

"You are not stupid Yumi. You had every right to not trust me. I am the damn fool for not trusting you in the first place."

"It probably wouldn't help to call you both damn fools anyway, would it?" Ulrich says smiling.

"Well, we just both called ourselves that, so I guess you can." Yumi says.

"Hell no. You're both really smart, and you're my girlfriend. And don't you have a story you would like to tell Macas, now that he has divulged his entire past to you?"

"Oh, but it's so insignificant now."

"Nothing is insignificant. Not in this world." I say.

"Okay. Ulrich took me home and we kissed in front of my house. My father saw. He never liked Ulrich, and was furious. After a big fight, he stormed out of the house. He won't come back… This is something that hit him too deep. He will never forgive me or my mother." Yumi says trying to keep her voice steady.

"Don't worry Yumi. Your secret may seem small to you, and mine huge, but I think the other way around. I managed to get away from a father who has beat me all my life. You lost a father you loved because you did something as trivial as kissing your boyfriend."

"Still its-"

"Nope, I don't want to hear it. I just want you to tell me if there is anything I can do for you. I would do absolutely anything to help a friend." I interrupt.

"Thank you."

"Now, I have to be going. Dinner is soon, and I'm starving. I'll see you guys later, okay?"

"Okay."

"Hey Macas, I won't be at dinner, and most likely I won't be back until late. I'm going to have dinner at Yumi's house. Can you tell Odd?"

"Sure." I say. I put on my jacket, and walk back towards the school. I look back to see Yumi snuggle up against Ulrich and they walk off slowly towards the city.

(Odd P.O.V.)

I walk up to our normal table at dinner, but Ulrich isn't there.

"Hey guys, where's Ulrich?" I ask.

"He's at Yumi's house." Macas replies. "He said he wouldn't be back until late."

"Is he going to miss dinner?"

"No, he's eating at Yumi's."

"Ooh, his first formal dinner? Why hasn't he ever gone over there before?" Aelita asks.

"Yumi's father doesn't- oh wait. Has everyone here heard about Yumi's dad? I don't want to tell her secrets." We all nod.

"When did she tell you? I thought she didn't trust you." Aelita says. Jeremie and I cringe.

_Aelita may be nice, but she needs to learn when to speak her mind, and when to just shut up._

"She told me… just after I told her my secret…" Jeremie and Aelita look at him strangely, I just look back down at my food.

"You told her?" I ask quietly.

"Yah. You guys really want to know too, don't you?" I find myself nodding in agreement, along with Jeremie and Aelita.

"Then let's go. I need to tell you if I expect for you to trust me. Are you finished with dinner?"

"Yah." We all say simultaneously. I'm not really done, and I'm still hungry. But there is no way I can miss this. I need to know. It's been eating me up inside ever since that first day. That first day during soccer when he showed me his arm.

"Then let's go. I want to do this now." We all stand up, and walk out the door with him. He takes us over to the field, and as us sit. Aelita is shivering, but neither Jeremie nor I have a coat.

"Here Aelita, take my jacket. You must be freezing." Macas takes off his jacket, and Aelita gives a gasp. We see all of his bruises, up and down his arms. Some are beginning to fade. He has so many injuries.

"I'm going to have you guys make the same promise that I had Ulrich and Yumi make. I want you to promise not to tell anyone. This is my burden, and I will tell someone when I feel like it."

"I promise." I say.

"Promise." Aelita says.

"I promise." Jeremie says.

"Okay…"

We listen intently as Macas relates his sad tale. I can't believe that he has gone through so much already! He has suffered more pain that all of us put together. I wonder how someone could possibly stab their own daughter with a knife, or how he could take his son out of school so that he could make drug deliveries! How anyone could shoot their wife and daughter is beyond me. Through it all, Macas' voice stayed completely calm. He shed a tear when he told us of what happened to Karyssa, but he never stopped.

(Normal P.O.V.)

Unknown to them, someone waits in the shadow. She hasn't moved since Macas started, and hasn't said a word. Even during the part where his father killed his mother, she never did anything. She just stood there. When he finished, she left without being noticed.

Sissi walked away slowly, thinking about what she had heard.

_This time I have it. Information that no matter what, they can't take back. I will blackmail Ulrich into becoming my boyfriend no matter what he and that bitch Yumi are doing. If he doesn't, I'll tell the entire school that Macas was abused by his father. There's no way I can lose this time!_

_

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_**Okay, here's another pretty sad chappy. I had to tell it again so you could see Yumi's reaction to it. Thanx to whoever the reviewer was who gave me the idea for having Sissi find out. This will come in play later. I have over 1,000 hits, but still only like 60 reviews, i want some more people. Please? This story is only going to get better, but I won't continue if no one reviews!**_  
_

**I just thought of a trivia question. What was XANA most likely named after? See if you can figure it out and put it in a review. I'll didicate the next chappy to anyone who gets it right.**


	20. Prophecy

**Sorry for not updating... been unable to get on computer... anyway, heres a new one. This is a real shocker, it changes what you think about Macas...**

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(Odd P.O.V.) 

After Macas finished his story, I sat in silence. Aelita gave her condolences, Jeremie expressed his sorrow, but I said nothing.

_Someone else has had abusing parents too? I've heard that many kids have parents that hurt them, but I never thought I'd actually **meet** someone else that does. My mom abused me, yes, but she never really, I mean seriously, hurt me. The worst she ever did was break a beer bottle in my face. But those scars faded. Macas' father stabbed his own daughter in the head with a butcher knife!_

"Odd? Are you okay?" Aelita says, noticing my silence.

"Yah, I'm fine. I'm just going to go to bed now…" I say. I get up and walk away, leaving the others in stunned silence.

(Macas P.O.V.)

_I know that look. Michael had that same look when he told me his father hit him. But that was way back in the states, I could be mistaken…_

"I'm going to go and see what's up with him." I say.

"Here, thank you." Aelita says, and hands me my jacket.

"No problem. Anything for a friend." I reply. Jeremie holds her tight, and walks off towards her dorm.

"Hey Odd!" I say, running up to him.

"Yah?" He says.

"What's up?"

"Oh nothing. I'm just thinking."

"No, something's definitely up. First off, you're not making corny jokes. Second off, when do you ever admit to thinking? Third off, I know that look. I've seen it before." I say.

"What look? This is how I am normally!" He says defensively.

_That proves it. When he goes on defense, there's something wrong._

"You're father hurt you too, didn't he?" I say quietly. Odd's eyes widen and he looks away.

"My mom. She would come home and hit me every day or so. Nothing serious, like what happened to you. I think she just despised that she had a boy." He says quietly too.

"I know what you mean. My dad hated my sisters. I don't think he wanted any kids at all. What happened to your father?"

"He's in jail. He was a shady businessman, embezzling money from the company. No one knew my mom abuses me, so she got custody of me. She got welfare and sent me here."

"At least you're away from your mom. You have a bad childhood too, why are you always the happy one of the group?" I ask as we round a corner.

"I will not make anyone else sad because I had horrible parents. If I walked around school depressed all the time, everyone else would get depressed. So I go to the other end of the scale. I'm always happy, always making jokes to lighten the mood."

"That's good. Do the others know about you?"

"Ulrich does. Jeremie, I have told him enough that he gets the picture. Yumi and Aelita don't need to know, I don't want to tell them."

"I understand. I won't tell them your secret Odd."

"Thanks. Here's my room, I'll see you tomorrow at breakfast. Let's hope it's something edible this time!" He says and walks into his room.

"Yah, we can only hope."

_Well, he's back to normal. Well, as normal as someone named Odd can get._

(Normal P.O.V.)

Aelita and Jeremie walked down to her room, and said their goodnights. Jeremie even got a goodnight kiss. Jeremie walked back to his room feeling kind of depressed.

_How could such a good person have such a horrible past?_

He went into his room, shutting off the light and going straight to bed. No anti-virus for tonight, he needed time to rest and think.

Meanwhile, Aelita was in her room. Already sleeping, she suddenly had a bizarre vision.

(Aelita P.O.V.) 

I had just managed to get to sleep when visions floated through my head. I was walking along in sector 5, but there were no monsters around. I was in a tower, and I put my hand on the panel. It read Aelita: Administrative access. I suddenly had access to millions of files, everything I could possibly want. Even more than the panel outside the sphere. Before I could do anything, I found myself in a dark room, surrounded by files. I touched one, and it opened. It was a text document, and I scanned it quickly. It was a detailed analysis of how he managed to control the bulldozers and try to knock down the factory. I closed it and opened a more recent one. It was how he created the polymorphic clone to spread dissent in our group. I opened the most recent, it was how he took control of the airplane he used to crash into the school.

_Amazing. I can understand how XANA does anything now…_

I found myself walking along a different wall, and opening the first document. All it had was this:

Prophecy found in oldest part of database. Presumably by Franz Hopper.

Summary: Someone will appear and destroy me. He/she knows by Lyoko by instinct, and has parents who abused him. Will use someone who cannot remember and friends who fight against the inevitable to defeat me.

Analysis: Discredit, Franz Hopper cannot make prophecy. Must still be on lookout for possible truth.

_A prophecy? By Franz Hopper?_

I found myself once again opening a new document, this one from today.

New boy has arrived at school, has joined the Lyoko Warriors. Has not been told of Lyoko's existence yet. Name is Macas Keloly. Researched all data on past, tapped into security system to her him reveal his past to Lyoko Warrior Ulrich. He comes close to fulfilling the prophecy, must be eliminated.

_Macas? Could he be the chosen one of the prophecy? I have to warn him!_

I woke up in a cold sweat, the numbers on the clock read 11:35.

_Macas! XANA is plotting against you. Why would he want Macas? Macas has done absolutely nothing against him. I need to tell Jeremie._

I crawl out of my bed to grab my cell phone. I quickly dial his number, I know it by heart. "Hello?" Says a groggy Jeremie, obviously just woken up.

"Jeremie! I just had another vision!" I say quickly, getting dressed as I talk.

"What? I thought XANA stopped putting visions into your head."

"This was different. I think it was an accident. I could actually read XANA's files, discover what he thinks!"

"What? We need to talk."

"Way ahead of you. Can you call Odd and Ulrich and have them meet us in the park? I'll call Yumi."

"What about Macas?" He says.

"Can't trust him with this information yet. We need to tell him about Lyoko, then we'll include him in this."

"Okay. See you in a few. Luv yah." He says.

"Luv yah too. Bye." I say, and hang up. I quickly dial Yumi's number and explain the situation. She agrees to meet us by the tunnel in the park. I hurry down there, waiting for everyone else to arrive. Jeremie, Odd, and Ulrich arrive, Odd is in his pajamas. Ulrich just has a pair of jeans and a light shirt on. Jeremie is the same. Yumi shows up a few minutes later, normal attire.

"What's up with the midnight meeting? My mom will kill me if she finds me missing." Yumi says, catching her breath.

"I just had another vision." I say, and immediately, everyone perks up.

"I thought XANA-" Ulrich begins.

"XANA had nothing to do with this. This was an accident. I could read XANA's personal files!" I say and everyone is silent.

"So… what was he putting in there?" Odd asks, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

"Macas." I say and everyone practically stops breathing.

"Why would XANA want anything to do with Macas?" Yumi asks.

"I- I'm not sure. The vision ended there." I lied.

_Why did I just lie? They need to know about the prophecy! And about Franz Hopper!_

"XANA was also thinking about Franz Hopper. Apparently he created Lyoko, and XANA killed him when he conquered it." This news stuns everybody.

"Franz Hopper actually did create Lyoko? What else did he say?"

"Nothing."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Could this possibly be another trap? Maybe XANA wants us to think you had a real vision. He might just want us to take extra precautions, maybe have one of us stay behind with Macas to make his job easier on Lyoko." Yumi says.

"No. I don't know how, but I know that XANA did not do this on purpose."

"I trust you Aelita. I think we need to tell Macas about Lyoko. He deserves to know that someone is out to get him." Jeremie says.

"I do too." Ulrich says immediately.

"Me too." Yumi says after a pause.

"Me uh… one… two… three! Me three!" Odd says, making us all laugh.

"I do." I say.

"So it's unanimous. We will tell him about Lyoko. But it will probably have to wait. He has bigger things on his plate right now, like the trial." Jeremie says.

"What trial?" I ask. Jeremie and Ulrich explain the whole situation about how somehow the security camera caught Macas beating up Yumi instead of William.

"My only explanation was XANA tampered with the camera, thus changing the CD." Ulrich says.

"So he asked me to look at it. I saw nothing suspicious at first, but I'll take a deeper look."

"Okay… great. Can we go to bed now? I'm freezing!" Odd says and walks off.

"I'll see you tomorrow Yumi." Ulrich says.

"Yah, tomorrow. Bye." She gives him a quick kiss and walks off.

"Come on Aelita, you should go to bed." Jeremie says, extending a hand. I take it and walk off with him.

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**Interesting huh? Please R&R, i need to know if you like it. Just because some of you have been asking, yes I am a guy. Whatever. Please review and feel welcome to give me any ideas you might have. im kind of running low. THANX**  



	21. OddxYumi?

**I wanted to another chappy today before I forgot about this little plotline... hope you enjoy!**

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(Ulrich P.O.V.) 

I wake up to the sound of my alarm clock beeping, and shut it off. I look over, it's 6:30, and Odds sleeping like a lump. I get up and stretch, grabbing some clothes from the closet, preparing to take a shower. I grab a pillow and chuck it at Odd, it hits him square in the face.

"XANA you can kill me just don't take away my food!" He yells, bolting straight out of bed.

"Don't worry Odd, XANA isn't going to kill you. Or take your food." I say laughing loudly. "Hurry up or we might not get any hot water for out shower!"

"Oh shit! We had science homework, didn't we?" He says, stretching like a cat.

"Yup. I did it, I don't know about you. Hurry up!" I say and walk out the door. I take a nice shower, and get back in my dorm at about 6:50. Deciding not to wait for Odd, I head down to the cafeteria. I get down there, and Aelita and Jeremie are already eating, not saying much.

"Hey guys, what up?" I say, sitting down in my normal spot.

"No- nothing." Aelita says yawning.

"Didn't get much sleep last night, did you?"

"Nope. I probably got around maybe five hours." She says, and yawns again. Macas sits down in his spot.

"Hey." He says

"Hi." I reply and take a bite of my breakfast.

"Where's Odd and Yumi?"

"Odd is… he's probably coming down here now. He woke up a little later than I did. Yumi, I haven't seen yet."

"I know why." Sissi's annoying, high-pitched voice says out of nowhere.

"I'm sure you do. And I'm also sure that I don't care. So go away." I say and take another bite.

"I just saw them outside kissing." She says, and I almost choke on my food.

"Well Sissi, you get points for originality. I've never heard anything like that before." Jeremie says.

"Yah, don't you know that Ulrich and Yumi are dating now?" Macas says.

"Of course I knew that. But Yumi was just dating Odd's best friend to make him jealous. And apparently it worked. That works out for both of us, now you're free to go out with me and you know that Yumi doesn't like you."

"Sissi, you are weird. We all know that Yumi and Ulrich are still dating, and Odd would never do anything like that to Ulrich." Aelita says defending me.

"Maybe Odd thinks the same thing about Ulrich. Stealing the love of his life? Some friend." Sissi shoots back.

"If you think he's such a bad friend, what makes you think he would be a better boyfriend? You obviously think so low of Ulrich, so go away!" Macas shouts, making half the lunchroom turn around and look. Sissi gives him a glare and walks off again.

"Man, she never gives up, does she?" Macas says quietly, returning to his food. "Oh, and by the way, no offense meant for the bad boyfriend thing."

"None taken. I knew it was just to keep Sissi away. Thanks guys." I say. Then something odd happens. Odd and Yumi come in together!

_Woah… could Sissi have been right? Are Odd and Yumi really dating behind my back?_

"Hey guys, what's up?" Odd says, looking around.

(Odd P.O.V.)

After taking my shower, I hurry down to the cafeteria before all the good food is gone. Outside the cafeteria, I find Yumi sitting on the ground crying.

"Yumi! Are you okay? What happened?" I say, kneeling down next to her.

"Oh hi Odd. Nothing's wrong…" She says.

"Why does everyone think they can pull the wool over my eyes? Something is obviously wrong, and I'm not leaving until I find out what!" I say firmly.

_Why does everyone think they can deny having something wrong in front of me when it's so obvious? I'm not that stupid!_

"It's really nothing Odd… You heard about my dad?" I nod. "Well, my mom was getting rid of all his old stuff, and I just got upset. I'm sorry for being so stupid."

"No, you weren't being stupid. I understand, my dad has been gone for years now, and I still feel pain over it." I say.

"Your dad left too?" She says looking surprised.

_Oh damn, I forgot. I never told Yumi about what happened to me…_

"No, he's in jail. He embezzled lots of money from his company, and is serving hard time."

"I'm sorry." She says, looking at me.

"Don't be. I barely knew him, I was glad to get rid of him."

If only I didn't have to be with my mom… 

"Thanks Odd. You know how to cheer up my day." She says and gives me a hug.

"I also know a guy who would cheer you up even more… let's go talk to Ulrich and the gang." I say, helping her up. We walk into the cafeteria together, heading towards our table. We see Sissi leave just after we walked in.

_Oh boy, Sissi will never give up, will she?_

"Hey guys, what's up?" I ask looking around. Macas is chewing, Jeremie and Aelita just look at me. I feel kind of uncomfortable.

"So how did you get rid of Sissi this time?" I ask and sit down. Ulrich looks away, and Aelita and Jeremie return to their food.

"I just kind of yelled at her to go away." Macas says before taking another bite.

"Nice, I think she needed that." Yumi says. No one replies.

"Hey, what's up? You guys are barely talking! Do I need to start making jokes?" I say, trying to lighten the mood.

"Just shut up Odd. Sissi already told us about you and Yumi." Ulrich says and then pushes his chair out and walks away.

"What the hell? What is he talking about?" I ask Jeremie.

"Sissi told us all about you and Yumi." He says.

"What are you talking about? What about Odd and me?" Yumi asks.

"Sissi told us that Yumi was dating Ulrich only to make Odd jealous and go out with him. Isn't that true?" I start laughing.

"Jeremie, when did you get stupid enough to start believing what Sissi says?" I say.

"Odd and I are not dating. I would never do that to Ulrich." Yumi adds.

"Then I think someone needs to go and talk to Ulrich." Aelita mentions.

"I'll go." Yumi says immediately.

"Actually Yumi, I think I need to go. This is something I think he needs to talk with a guy about. Jealousy is not something you talk about with your girlfriend." I say and stand up. I quickly walk over towards the door.

"Odd! This would not be a good time to make jokes!" Jeremie yells after me. I just wave.

Okay, where would Ulrich storm off too? Hmm… so many places. Yah right. He's in the park, sitting in his tree.

I walk quickly over to the park and head to his tree. Sure enough, he's sitting up way high in the tree, near the top. He has his eyes closed, it looks like he was crying.

Holy Shit! Ulrich was crying? I have never seen him cry. The thought of losing Yumi must really be hard for him…

"Ulrich? Are you okay?" I say, hoping he isn't asleep. If he's asleep and I wake him up, he's going to be in such a bad mood…

"Go away Odd. I don't want to talk to you." He wipes his eyes on his sleeve and turns away.

"Ulrich, I know you. If you sit there and think about it, you're going to get more and more depressed. So come down here and talk to me like a man." He opens his eyes and glares at me. I know he's coming down, he doesn't back down from a challenge. Sure enough, he jumps down from branch to branch, landing on the ground deftly in three jumps.

"What, come to rub it in my face?"

"Ulrich, use your common sense. I know you love Yumi, I would never take her from you."

"Yah right. You were jealous about that remark I made before about you not having a girl. So you picked mine. She never liked me anyway."

"Ulrich, Yumi loves YOU! I don't want to date her, she's just a good friend."

"Why should I trust you?"

"Why should you listen to Sissi?" Ulrich's eyes widen, and realization comes to his eyes.

"So… so you aren't dating Yumi?" He asks quietly.

"No. I met her outside the cafeteria. She was crying because of her dad. I convinced her to come inside and talk to you, saying that would make her feel better. And I'll bet ten-to-one that you storming out didn't help." Ulrich looks stunned.

"Oh my God. I've been so STUPID! I listened to Sissi, and now Yumi probably hates me for it."

"Hey man, get it through your head. Yumi LOVES YOU! She does not hate you and I'll bet no one does. Except for maybe Herb, he thinks you stole Sissi from him." I say and we laugh together.

"Come on, let's go back." Ulrich says and we walk off to the cafeteria again. We walk back into the cafeteria to find Yumi and Aelita sitting at the table talking.

"Yumi… I'm sorry. I jumped to conclusions. After hearing Sissi's story, seeing you too walking in together, it was too much of a coincidence." Ulrich says immediately to Yumi.

"I understand. Sissi can be such a bitch." She says and kissed him.

"Well, sorry to brake up the happy reunion, but does anyone else wonder how Sissi is doing all this? She never has a plan this smart."

"You're right Odd. Jeremie thinks that the reason XANA attacked Yumi was to 1) hurt her physically without provoking a return to the past. That way Yumi is hurt and unable to fight as well. 2) So that the camera would catch it on tape and he could modify it. I think XANA knew that if Yumi is hurt physically, Ulrich would save her. Then they would get together. I think he might have tweaked the situation a little bit so that Yumi's dad would walk out, and Yumi would be in pain physically and emotionally."

"He just forgot one thing. When he messes with Yumi, he messes with me." Ulrich says, looking pissed.

"Come on Romeo, let's go to class." I say and we walk off.

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**Yup, another chappy. Have fun while these peacetime chapters are rolling by, the actiony ones are coming up soon...! R&R.**  



	22. Discovery

**I put in the other two chappys today and realized something... today is the one month aniversary since I first put in this fanfic! Thirty days... wow. i'm doing really good. Anyways, here's another chappy in celebration! Enjoy...**

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(Jeremie P.O.V.) 

When Odd runs after Ulrich, I realize something.

_I know why XANA attacked Yumi!_

I explain my thoughts to Yumi and Aelita. They look shocked XANA would go through all that trouble, just for one person.

"It still doesn't make any sense. Why would XANA do all this, just so he could hurt Yumi? It doesn't hurt her all that much, and she can still fight." Aelita says.

"If anything, it just makes me want to fight harder." Yumi says.

"I don't know. I need to think about it for a while." I say consolingly. "I promised Ulrich, so I'm going to go and see if I can do anything with that file. Macas' trial is set for Friday, so I need to get working. I'll see you in class." I say.

I grab my laptop, stand up and head out the door. I get back to my room quickly, and put the CD in my computer. I scan through it quickly, seeing if there are any obvious changes. Nope. I open the properties of the file and look through that, but still nothing. I try a couple of different tactics, trying to see if XANA messed with the codes or other things. Nothing.

_Good thing I left breakfast early. I have about another half-hour to work._

I try several different things, but nothing reveals the original file, or the part that was added on.

_Maybe I'm thinking too hard about this. Let's try something simple. I doubt XANA would think I would get a hold of this anyway._

I opened a simple movie-making program and opened the file.

_Ah, there we go._

XANA had just made a simple overlap movie, and it ran on top of parts of the original. Before I was looking for a different file that changed the original, but this was a part of the original. Unfortunately, XANA has it password encrypted so I can't easily remove the overlap.

I created a program to work on the file, removing the overlap bit by bit. It would take at least a day or two, this is complicated work. I leave my computer running and leave, making sure to lock my door.

(Macas P.O.V.)

After Ulrich runs off, I don't feel like eating anymore. I quietly grab my tray and leave. I don't think anyone notices. (A/N: Check the last chapter, they talk about XANA after Ulrich leaves, and Macas suddenly disappears… coincidence? I think not.) I run after Ulrich, I need to talk to him really quickly. I see him run to the park, and I follow. I watch him climb into a tree, and keep climbing until he nears the top.

"Ulrich?" I say, looking up. He looks down surprised.

"What do you want?"

"Did you see the school paper the other day?"

"No, I don't read it."

"Good. It printed some weird story about me dating Yumi. It said that's why we got in a fight in the field on Saturday."

"Don't tell me you're dating her too? I can't believe she would date me just for Odd."

"What are you talking about? Yumi is not dating anyone except you, and she wants to keep it that way."

"Or maybe Yumi is a player and she's dating all of you without anyone else finding out."

"Dammit Ulrich, never say that again. Yumi is a good person, and she has never gone out with anyone but you."

"You know what? You're not helping, so shut the hell up and go away." Ulrich says and turns away again.

"Ulrich, you're being stupid. You're believing Sissi's lies, and now you may have lost Yumi." Ulrich says nothing. "Just so you know, I had Millie print corrections in the next day's paper saying we were not going out." I say and walk away.

The rest of the day goes smoothly, I don't sit next to anyone during all my classes, I don't feel like having another confrontation. After class, I walk around the park a bit, trying to gather my thoughts.

_My trial is in two days, and I still have nothing. I am sure to be expelled._

I hear a clink and I stumble. I look down and see that I have stumbled on a manhole cover that is partially uncovered.

(Ulrich P.O.V.)

When class began, I noticed that Macas decided to sit by himself, on the other side of the room. I wave for him to come over, but he ignored me. He does that all day long. After class, I look for him, but I can't find him anywhere. I decide to look around the park when I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket. I look at it to find a text message that says:

**SOS**

**XANA**

**-J**

I give a sigh of relief, knowing now I have something to occupy my thoughts. I run towards the manhole cover, and meet Odd and Yumi there. They are looking at the cover, and I realize something.

_The cover is off…_

I quickly slide down the ladder and realize my skateboard is missing.

_That's not good._

(Macas P.O.V.)

I decide 'what the hell' I go down the ladder, into the sewers. I see two scooters and three skateboards there.

_What the… why would someone leave their stuff here?_

I grab one of the skateboards and skate off. I'm not much of a skateboarder, but I can manage to not fall off for most of the journey. I had to walk down the stairs though. I reach a dead end and see another ladder on my left, going up to a trap door thing. I get out and look around. I'm near a bridge, which leads to an old abandoned factory.

_Cool. Let's go exploring._

I jog across the bridge and enter the factory. It smells like old rusty metal. Seeing no other way down, I grab one of the ropes and shimmy down it, landing on the floor. Of course, the first thing to attract my attention is an old freight elevator. It looks like it hasn't worked in years. I go inside and push the large red button on the wall. To my surprise, it jolts downward. It comes to a stop, and a panel opens underneath the button, revealing a keypad.

_Oh shit. If I don't get the right combo, it looks like I'm stuck here._

I cross my fingers and enter the first four digits that come to mind: 8614. Amazingly enough, the door glides open smoothly, revealing the coolest sight I have ever seen.

(Ulrich P.O.V.)

As the others skate as fast as they can, I run through the sewers. Seeing as my board was taken, I have to. Jeremie and Aelita would be here shortly, and they would need their scooters. We reach the ladder leading towards the bridge, and see the overhead door has already been opened.

"Maybe Jeremie and Aelita have already been through here." Said Odd hopefully.

"No, he was back in his dorm when he called me. He won't be here for another couple of minutes. Besides, their scooters were still there."

We scramble up the ladder, and run across the bridge. One of the rope swings is different; it's a couple of feet away from the normal position.

_Great, someone has definitely been here. That means someone has guaranteed seen this place and knows where it is._

I swing down and push the rope back towards Odd, who was waiting. We enter the elevator and push the button for the supercomputer room. Yumi enters the code, and we step out to find a big surprise.

(Macas P.O.V.)

I stepped out of the elevator, and saw the coolest thing ever. A huge projection with some different sectors on it, but even cooler was the fact that there was a large monitor and keyboard setup. I walk over, take off my backpack and sit in the chair.

_Wow. This is amazing. This has to be the fastest computer I have ever seen._

I enter the password again and am granted access to all files. I look through some of them; they have the most complicated programs I've ever seen. I find one files especially interesting. It's labeled simply _Lyoko_.

_Lyoko… there it is again! This is too much of a coincidence._

I look through the files and see a folder labeled MONSTER INFO. I open it and see pictures of the creatures I drew. The metal crab, the block with legs and the cannonball-like thing.

"Woah…" I say to myself and suddenly I hear the elevator door open. I turn to see Yumi, Odd and Ulrich standing there, looking amazed.

"H-hey guys. What's up?" I say, trying to look as though I wasn't snooping around in something they obviously kept secret.

"How did you get in here?" Ulrich asks, walking over to me. I quickly get out of the chair and grab my backpack.

"I don't know, I just kind of found this place."

"The door is password protected." Yumi says, standing next to Ulrich.

"I just guessed some random numbers. Is that a problem?"

"Yah it's a problem. You can't tell anyone about what you saw here okay?" Ulrich says, looking me in the eye.

"Yah, okay. You know I'm good at keeping secrets. But I just want to know, what is this place?" I say, looking from Odd to Ulrich to Yumi. Then the elevator closes, and goes back up.

"That would be Einstein coming. We'll let him explain." Odd says, and walks over the elevator.

* * *

**You asked for it and you got it, Macas has discovered Lyoko. Prepare for some cool chappys, they are coming! R&R**


	23. Possessed?

**Sorry this took so long to update. I've been banned off the computer this whole week. I dedicate this chappy to anyone who congratulated me on my one month aniversary... thanx people! (Now do you see why you should say good things about me in reviews? You might get a chappy dedicated to you!)**

* * *

(Ulrich P.O.V.) 

I stand next to Odd, waiting for the elevator to descend with Jeremie.

How are we ever going to tell Macas about this? We were going to tell him, but I didn't expect him to find out on his own.

I look over to where Macas is standing with his backpack, and I see the worst thing that could possibly happen.

There is a black XANA ghost coming down from the ceiling, straight toward Macas.

"Macas, look out!" I yell, but too late. The ghost entered his body possessing him. I see the XANA symbol come to his eyes and I know this is going to be bad. I quickly get into fighting stance, ready to take him on. He looks at me again, and the symbol has disappeared. Then it came back. All of the sudden Macas falls to the ground, clutching his head.

"Get out of me! Get OUT!" He yells, rolling on the ground.

_He's fighting it!_

Then he stands up and runs at me with his arm ready for a punch. I quickly drop back into fighting position and dodge. I grab his arm and swing him around, he flies five feet and hits the wall. The symbol disappears again. He looks at me with an expression of despair.

"Ulrich, help! It's trying to make me hurt you!" he yells and stands up again, the symbol blazing in his eyes. He rushes at Yumi, but Yumi blocks a punch and two kicks. She gives him a swift kick to the stomach, and he goes back a couple of feet. He falls to the ground, holding his head again.

"Ulrich, stop me! I can't fight it much longer! Yumi please!" He yells again. "You have to tie me down, I can't fight it!"

"Odd, grab the rope!" I yell at him, and he runs over to the chair, grabbing the rope Jeremie stashed there. Jeremie made it himself; it's specially made so that even someone possessed by XANA can't break it, but the problem is managing to tie them up with it. (A/N: Remember this is set a year after season 1. They should have figured out some way to guard against someone who's possessed by now.) Odd throws me the rope and I wrap it around Macas a couple of times, tying him up tightly.

"What's going on?" Jeremie says. He and Aelita just exited the elevator, and see Ulrich tying up Macas.

"Why is Macas here? And why did you tie him up?"

"He was just possessed by XANA." Odd says simply.

"How did you manage-" Aelita begins.

"Macas fought. XANA never had full control, Macas asked us to stop him from hurting us." I say.

"How did he resist? No one else but us has managed to fight against XANA possessing us." Jeremie wonders.

"I don't know." Macas starts thrashing around, the symbol is in his eyes again. Then it disappears and he stands up.

"Guys, I'm okay. I managed to regain control." He says calmly.

"I don't think so XANA, you've done this before. I know that you can talk normally while possessing someone." Jeremie says firmly.

"Who is XANA?" He asks.

"Jeremie, what if he did regain control? I mean, no one's ever fought him before, maybe he could win too." Yumi says.

"How do we know? There's no physical way to determine if this is really Macas." Aelita says worried.

"Then we'll figure this out mentally. XANA may have possessed his body, but he doesn't have his memories. We can just ask him a question." Yumi says.

"Good idea, but what?" Jeremie asks.

"I know." I says and steps forward. "You have two twin sisters, what are their names?"

"Easy, Karyssa and Kailynn." We all look surprised.

How did he know that? I was sure this was XANA's doing.

"Can you let me go now?" He asks calmly.

"I guess… sorry about this…" Jeremie says and moves to untie him.

"Wait Jeremie. This isn't Macas. This is XANA." I say.

"What? He just answered the question right."

"I know, but I just know this isn't him."

"Actually, maybe XANA looked up his past. Find a record for someone named Macas Keloly and look up his family. Look at his genealogy, it's all possible."

"Guys, really. Who is XANA, and why would he want to look up my past? If you don't believe me, ask me some more questions." We all think of a question that XANA could not possibly know by research.

"Okay, what was Karyssa's test score when she got home really sad?" Aelita asks.

"98."

"How did Kailynn die?" Jeremie asks.

"My father shot her."

_Damn. Is this really Macas? I don't think so… he's not getting emotional at all._

"I don't think you're the real Macas. The real Macas couldn't talk about Karyssa or Kailynn this easily."

"I'm starting to get over it. Talking about it really is helping."

"You asked me what was worse than death, what was my answer?"

Macas is silent for a second. I see XANA's symbol flash in his eyes, and he jumps up with a spin kick towards Yumi. Seeing it coming, I jump in front of the attack and he kicks me across the floor. I hit the wall with a thud and black out.

I wake up to the feel of Yumi's lips upon mine. I quickly sit up and look around. Everyone is staring at me. Macas is rolling around on the floor, bound by a generous amount of rope. Yumi has a cut on her cheek, Odd has a bruise just above his eye, but other than that, they look okay.  
"What happened?" I ask as Yumi backs away.

"XANA attacked you and you passed out. We managed to subdue him, thanks to some help from the real Macas inside. He kept fighting and distracted XANA."

"Let's go deactivate the tower. That will return Macas to normal." Jeremie says as Odd helps me up. We all go down to the scanner room, and get virtualized. Surprisingly, there are no monsters around, and Aelita makes it safely to the tower. She enters and flies up to the top.

"Jeremie, something seems to be wrong. Why would there be no monsters? Maybe this is a trap."

"No Aelita, I checked it out. XANA was using so much power to try and take over Macas, that he has no energy left for monsters. Now deactivate the tower so we can go back to normal. I don't think we need a Return To The Past for this, no one got hurt too badly." Jeremie says. Aelita deactivates the tower and Jeremie devirtualizes us. As soon as we get out, Odd walks over to Yumi.

"He asked you what was worse than death, what did you say?" Odd asks, serious for once. Yumi, noticing that he was not joking, replied:

"Being without those you love. Why do you ask?"

"Just wondering. Let's go upstairs."

We go upstairs to find Jeremie looking over an unconscious Macas, Yumi and Aelita looking at him concerned.

"He's okay, he just passed out like all the others who were possessed." Jeremie says matter-of-factly. "Can you help me with these knots? You tied them really tight."

"Wow, he must have put up a really good fight." I say, and kneel down next to him. I untie all the knots that bind him (It took a while, there was a lot). As I finish the last one, Macas opens his eyes.

"Ow my head…" He says.

"Hey man, you okay?" Odd asks, leaning over and giving him a hand up.

"Yah… but what happened? I mean, I'm here looking at the coolest computer ever, and then Ulrich, Odd and Yumi come in. The next thing I know, I feel someone inside my head telling me to kill you guys. I resist, and then I wake up here." He looks at everyone in turn.

_Oh boy, here comes the interesting part…

* * *

_

**Haha, now another cliffy! That's two in a row... Id better stop or people are gonna hate me... oh well. Don't worry, the next chappy will be guaranteed the one where he finds out. It might not come for a while, I had to sneek on to use the computer today... dont tell anybody! Please R&R, i might dedicate a chappy to you!**

** As for the XANA question... as far as my knowledge goes, I dont think anyone got it right. Rycr might have, but im not sure... I'm not even sure if I have the right answer, but it seems logical. In the pilot episode of Code: Lyoko, which was named Garage Kids, Lyoko is called Xanadu, which means a paradise-like place. Since XANA is a part of Lyoko, he would be a part of XANAdu.  
I have one small question for you guys... i'm not entirely sure what OOC means. I thought i did, but then someone else said it differently, and i'm not sure anymore. Can anyone shed some light for a befuddled writer?  
**


	24. Last Secret Revealed

Flashback(Ulrich P.O.V.)  


We go upstairs to find Jeremie looking over an unconscious Macas, Yumi and Aelita looking at him concerned."He's okay, he just passed out like all the others who were possessed." Jeremie says matter-of-factly. "Can you help me with these knots? You tied them really tight."  
"Wow, he must have put up a really good fight." I say, and kneel down next to him. I untie all the knots that bind him (It took a while, there was a lot). As I finish the last one, Macas opens his eyes.  
"Ow my head…" He says.  
"Hey man, you okay?" Odd asks, leaning over and giving him a hand up.  
"Yah… but what happened? I mean, I'm here looking at the coolest computer ever, and then Ulrich, Odd and Yumi come in. The next thing I know, I feel someone inside my head telling me to kill you guys. I resist, and then I wake up here." He looks at everyone in turn.  
_ Oh boy, here comes the interesting part…_  
End Flashback(Macas P.O.V.)

"Hey man, you okay?" Odd asks, leaning over and giving him a hand up.

"Yah… but what happened? I mean, I'm here looking at the coolest computer ever, and then Ulrich, Odd and Yumi come in. The next thing I know, I feel someone inside my head telling me to kill you guys. I resist, and then I wake up here." I look at Ulrich. "You mind explaining?"

"Jeremie, I think maybe you had better handle this." Yumi says when Ulrich doesn't say anything.

"Where should I begin?" He inquires.

"Maybe you should start with Aelita." Odd says.

"Okay then… The first thing you should know is that Aelita hasn't always been human." Jeremie begins.

"What, was she part wolf or something?" I joke. No one else laughs.

"No, she was virtual. She was a digital being from a virtual world known to us as Lyoko." I let this sink in…

_Aelita is virtual? How can this be possible? And Lyoko… this is really creepy. First I draw Aelita as a virtual being… then everyone else in a virtual world I labeled 'Lyoko'? Too much of a coincidence._

"Wait a second…" I grab my backpack and take out my notebook. I quickly flip to the picture of Aelita. "Did she look like this?" I hold out the picture. They take it and stare.

"Where did you get this?" Aelita asks softly.

"I drew it. But I felt weird when I did, like I was drawing something I knew."

"So strange…" She murmurs, and looks at the picture again.

"Well, something wrong happened on Lyoko. A virus named XANA infected it, and he is trying to take over our world." Jeremie continues.

"How can he do that? He's stuck in a virtual world, it's not like he can do anything from there."

"Somehow, he can control systems in the school. From there he can assimilate other things. He can even possess people." Yumi adds.

"The only way we know if someone is possessed by XANA is if they're acting weird, or we can see the XANA symbol in their eyes." Odd says.

"Wait a minute… XANA sounds familiar." I say. I take back my picture and look on the back. Sure enough, there was that weird symbol I labeled 'XANA'.

"Is this his symbol?" I say and show them the picture.

"How do you keep doing this? There is no way you could have accidentally drawn Aelita and XANA without knowing something." Ulrich says.

"I told you, I just drew it. I never knew anything about Lyoko, XANA or Aelita beforehand."

"Well, the fact is, XANA succeeds in attacking usually around three times a week, sometimes more, sometimes less. The only way to stop him is to have Ulrich, Odd and Yumi protect Aelita from monsters as she tries to get to a tower on Lyoko. They go into scanners and are uploaded into Lyoko, they fight in real perspective. When they lose all their life points, they are devirtualized back here. When they are virtualized, they get special weapons and powers to aid them. Ulrich has-."

"Wait don't tell me. I already know." I say.

"Don't tell me you drew this too."

"Yah, I did. Let me get it…" I take the notebook and flip to the next page. I hand it back to Ulrich.

"Ulrich's a samurai, he has a sword. Yumi's a geisha warrior, she has fans. Odd is a catboy, he has some kind of arrow."

"They're called laser arrows." Odd says, and looks at the drawing.

"I swear, I had no idea this was real. I was just doodling the other day, and I ended up drawing this."

"Damn, next he'll be drawing his own character." Odd says.

"Uh…" I shuffle my feet slightly.

"Don't tell me, you've already drawn you own character." Ulrich says.

"Uh… yah. I figured 'why not' so I did. It turned out pretty good too." I flip to my last drawing and show it to them. They look astonished, as usual.

"Ulrich, does this look familiar to you?" Jeremie says incredulously.

"Yah, it does…"

"What are you talking about?" Yumi asks.

"Jeremie and I thought it would be a good idea to have an extra profile. So Jeremie and I started creating one. It was designed at first to be a backup for me, so that I could go to Lyoko twice. It looked basically like this."

"Now that is weird." I say. "Wait a minute, if XANA is trying to rule the earth, why not just shut him off? I mean if he's so much of a threat, just turn off the computer."

"I would if I could. Aelita started out as a virtual being, but I managed to materialize her and bring her here. I thought that then maybe we could shut off XANA. But right before I did it, XANA infected Aelita's computer code with a virus, connecting them. So if we shut off XANA, we kill Aelita. I've been working on a anti-virus, but it's extremely hard. And it doesn't help that XANA is getting stronger."

"How does he get stronger? I mean, you don't just get a computer upgrade out of nowhere."

"Sometimes when XANA attacks he causes massive destruction. It's at these times when we return to the past." Ulrich says.

"You can go back in time?" It's my turn to be incredulous.

"Yup. Anytime XANA destroys something, we just go back in time to a point where nothing is broken. No one else remembers it either. Except for us, and now you." Odd says.

"Everytime we return to the past, the supercalculater increases in power. So everytime, XANA gets stronger." Jeremie continues

"What do you say we have a little trip to Lyoko? XANA just got shut down, so he won't wake up again for a while. We would have some time without monsters." Yumi suggests.

"Good idea. Macas can use the new profile." We all head to the elevator except for Jeremie, who gets on the computer. We step inside and go down another level. The door opens to reveal three long vertical tubes, all golden with open doors.

"Alright, let's have the guys go in first." Jeremie says over the speakers. Ulrich, Odd and I choose a pod each and step inside.

"Does it hurt?" I ask before I step in.

"Nah, just watch out for the landing." Odd says and steps inside. I step in and hear Jeremie's voice again.

"Scanner Odd. Scanner Ulrich. Scanner Macas. Transfer Odd. Transfer Ulrich. Transfer Macas. Virtualization." I see light blast me from every angle, so I close my eyes. Then wind blows all around me, blowing my hair at odd angles. I seem to rise about a foot in the air… I feel uncomfortable at first, then nothing at all. Then I open my eyes to find myself falling; I quickly readjust and land hard. I stumble, but manage to keep my balance. Ulrich and Odd are already there.

"Wow, you're the first one to land on his feet. Nice going." Odd says. I stand up and take in my bearings. I am in some kind of desert, nothing but flat plains and a few plateaus around. No plants, just dust. I reach down to touch it, to make sure it's real, and watch in amazement, as I feel nothing.

"I can't feel it."

"Nope. In Lyoko you only have two senses, sight and sound. It's kinda weird at first, but you get used to it." Ulrich says, watching Yumi and Aelita appear in the air above him. First they're just wireframe, then they fill in with hair, clothes and everything. Everyone looks just like my drawing. Odd is a purple catboy, surprise surprise, Ulrich is wearing yellow samurai clothes, Yumi is your standard Geisha and Aelita looks exactly like my drawing depicted her. Aelita falls and lands nicely on her feet, but Yumi falls weird. She was virtualized horizontal, making her fall sideways. Luckily though, Ulrich was there to catch her.

"Hey Yumi, how's it going?" He says and puts her on her feet.

"Oh, not much. Thank you." She says and give him a kiss.

"Sorry Yumi, I hit one too many keystroke during transfer." Jeremie says apologetically.

"No problem, I had my knight in shining armor to save me." Yumi says and Ulrich blushes.

"Macas, because it's a new profile, I don't know what you have. You're going to have to figure that out on your own."

"Well, I have the same sword I had in my drawing." I pull the handle off my belt. It's just a handle, but I push the button and the beam springs to life. It's blood red, about three-and-half feet long. It's completely weightless, the only thing keeping it from floating away is it's lightweight handle, which is about a foot long and narrow. It to is blood red. The beam gives off a slight aura, casting a faint pink glow on my hands and chest. The blade itself is transparent without being transparent. If it wasn't glowing red, it would be completely see-through. I look myself over; I look almost exactly like I did in my drawing. Except in color. My shirt is dark red, with a lighter red vest covering it. My pants are loose and comfortable, without restricting movement. My pants are the same color as my shirt. My boots are extremely comfortable, they're more like sturdy tennis shoes. They are jet black with a narrow red stripe running down the middle. They don't have laces, just like my belt doesn't have a buckle.

"Sweet blade." Ulrich says.

"You said we had powers right? What do you have?" I ask them.

"I don't have any weapons, but my power is pretty useful." Aelita says. She sings, just one note and immediately a large boulder appears out of nowhere and drops next to her. Yumi puts her hands to her forehead and a pink aura appears around her. The boulder lifts, does three cartwheels and lands again. Then three Ulrichs appear on top of it, and dash off in a burst of yellow light. They appear again beside me and fuse back into one.

"My power can be useful, but I can't control it. I have visions of the future." Odd said, looking pleased with himself. "I also consider extreme handsomeness to be my power." He says smiling.

"I think some people would disagree with that. They would think it would be more along the lines of extremely bad jokes." Ulrich says laughing.

"How would I figure out my power?"

"Everyone figures theirs out in different ways. I found mine out by trying to run as fast as possible. I ended up going even faster, giving me a supersprint." Ulrich says.

"I just thought about moving something and I had telekinesis." Says Yumi.

"I've had my power as long as I can remember." Aelita says.

"And I still can't control mine." Odd finishes. They look at me expectantly, trying to see what I would try. I concentrate, trying to think of what I would have. Then, out of the blue, I see an attack from Ulrich flash through my mind. I instinctively react, ducking down and sweeping my leg out. I actually tripped Ulrich just before he would have hit me and he fell over. Yumi, Aelita and Odd look amazed. Ulrich just lies there stunned.

"Is that your power? Amazing reaction time?" Odd asks.

"No. I actually saw the attack before it came." I reply.

"Hey, you can't steal my power!" Odd says, looking offended.

"I don't think I see the future exactly, I think I see what's happening just before it happens. Kinda like premonitions." I have another vision of Yumi taking out her fan and preparing an attack from behind me. She throws it hard and fast, but since I know she did it, I can dodge and use my sword to knock her fan off course, straight towards Odd. Luckily, Odd has cat-like reflexes and he dodges out of the way. The fan returns to Yumi.

"Wow, I actually saw you pull out your fan. I saw you throw it so I knew what to expect." I say, getting excited.

"Wow, what a cool power. I wish mine worked like that." Odd says.

"Ulrich, would you care to spar?" I say, bowing graciously.

"Why certainly." He says, returning the gesture. "Lets see how skilled you are with the sword." He takes a swing at my head, but I dodge, swiping at his feet. He easily jumps over it and we exchange blows. Ulrich is really good, he manages to block every attack I throw at him. Because I can see them coming, I can easily block or dodge. We both go on like that for about five minutes, until Odd gets bored. I see a vision of him aiming his laser arrow at me. I decide to take advantage of the situation, and maneuver into a certain position. Odd fires and I duck, making Ulrich have to quickly deflect. He falls back and I put my sword up to his throat.

"I believe that makes me the winner." I say.

"No fair, you cheated." He says back.

"How did I cheat?"

"Odd took a shot. You knew it was coming and ducked so it hit me."

"Yes, I agree. So how about we call it a draw, and go attack Odd for interrupting our match?"

"Now that's an idea." He says and races off to catch Odd, who was already running away as fast as possible. He even got Jeremie to materialize him an overboard.

"Well, I guess my power only goes so far. I never saw Odd take off like that." I say, turning towards where Yumi and Aelita were sitting watching the fight.

"Maybe you can only see attacks aimed at you." Aelita said.

"Nope, I just saw Ulrich tackle Odd. I see visions of every attack I guess." I look behind me and sure enough, Ulrich has Odd pinned to the ground helpless.

(Odd P.O.V.)

"Hey come on, it was just a joke!" I yell at Ulrich, who won't let me up until I beg for mercy.

"Come on Odd, there's only one way I'm ever going to get off you. You've got to beg."

"No way. I'm no dog." Ulrich gives me a punch in the arm.

"Oh come on, you know we can't feel anything here."

"You're right. I guess I'll just have to devirtualize you the hard way. Life point by life point."

"Okay okay! I give up! Please don't kill me… I'm BEGGING YOU!" I yell being overdramatic. "I don wanna die, I don wanna die…"

"That's better. I think I know now why I'm a dog person though."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Ulrich just gives me a mocking salute and runs off at supersprint. I grab my overboard and take off after him. Apparently, we're going to be devirtualized and they're taking Aelita to the tower. Macas has his back to me, walking along. He reaches behind his head as though scratching his neck.

_Perfect, he let his guard down. It's payback time._

I quickly take aim and fire. Right before it hits him, his sword blade burst from his hand, deflecting the shot.

_Damn._


	25. Attack!

**Merry Christmas everybody! Now that Macas has been introduced to Lyoko, I can get on with the original plot line! hurray!**

**Did anybody notice the correlation? Chapter 25 of the 25th of December? Ooo, now I can act like i planned it! **

* * *

(Ulrich P.O.V.) 

By the time everyone is devirtualized (Odd ended up getting his life points taken by Yumi) it's time for dinner. We head out of the factory and into the sewers, it's Odd's turn to run. We leave out of the manhole and start walking through the park.

"What would you way is the funniest attack XANA has ever done?"

"I don't think any of them are funny." Jeremie replies disapprovingly

"I don't know, that Teddy Godzilla one was pretty hilarious." Odd says laughing.

"Maybe to you, you weren't about to get squished by a teddy bear."

Macas starts laughing. "He actually took control of a teddy bear? How lame…"

"Well, it's not so lame when it's two stories high." I reply.

"Ah, now that would be a threat. Which one would you say was the most deadly?" The group is silent for a second.

"I think it was the one where XANA possessed Jeremie. Without him, it was hard to go to Lyoko." Aelita says.

"I think it was where XANA made a polymorphic clone to break up the group." Yumi said.

"How could that break up you guys?"

"It transformed into different members of our group and kissed other people." Odd replied, rounding a bend in the trail.

"Ah, I see it didn't go too well when the Ulrich clone kissed someone."

"Nope." I reply and stop in front of the cafeteria. "Oh, here we are. I'll see you tomorrow, okay Yumi?"

"Okay, see you later." Yumi waves and walks off towards the front gates.

"Do you think they ate all the food already?" Odd asks, looking concerned.

"Odd, you haven't eaten yet. There's no way it's all gone." Jeremie says and we walk in to have a good dinner.

(Macas P.O.V.)

"Hey Macas, I made some progress on your trial case." Jeremie says.

"Really? What have you got?" I say eagerly, hoping he has uncovered something that I didn't.

"I guess now that you know about… well you know, I can tell you. XANA infected the video camera, laying his own movie over the original. It was actually XANA who possessed William and attacked Yumi."

"Why would he want to frame me?"

"I don't know. Maybe he wanted you out of here before you could join our team. Maybe he just doesn't like you. Maybe there's some deeper meaning, I don't know."

"Are you going to present it at my trial?" I ask.

"Yup. I'll let them show the messed up one, then I will show how I pulled out the overlap and play the original. That should release you just fine. But it will get William expelled for something he didn't do…"

"That wouldn't be fair. Could you possible re-make the video again? Change it so a stranger beat up Yumi?" Ulrich asks.

"No. Well, maybe. What XANA did was really complicated, he matched every movement perfectly. If I had a couple of months, unlimited time, and unlimited energy, I could do that. I may be smart, but I just don't have the calculating power that XANA has." Jeremie says. "I have to wait until my computer has finished extracting the extra video, then we can decide on what to do."

"How long will that take? Till breakfast?" Odd says.

"I don't think so. XANA really complicated this, it might not even be ready before Friday."

"Well, if it's not we can say our early good-byes to Macas." Ulrich says.

"Well, I'm going to bed. I'm tired. I guess I'll see you guys at breakfast okay?" Jeremie says, getting up to leave.

"Yah, okay. See you tomorrow Jeremie." I say, and wave as he walks out the door.

(Normal P.O.V.)

After dinner, Jeremie decided not to go to bed just yet. He walked over to William's room and knocked on the door.

"Hey Jeremie, what's up?"

"Bad stuff. Have you heard about Macas Keloly's trial?"

"Yah, it's all over school. Why do you ask?"

"Because you are a part of it."

"What? I'm haven't even talked to the kid."

"Yah, I know. Look, Macas was caught beating up Yumi by a security camera."

"What? I didn't know that. If he ever touches her again, I'm gonna-."

"Hold on, hold on. Something weird happened with the camera. I got a hold of the tape, and I looked at it. I dissected it, and instead of Macas beating up Yumi, it showed you."

"What the hell? I haven't ever beat up Yumi. I would never dare to." Jeremie didn't see a certain symbol flash in William's eyes when he said that. If he had, he probably would have run to his room and check Lyoko for a tower.

"I know. But that is what the tape showed. I'm going to have to present it at the court so Macas won't be expelled. If I do though, most likely you will be expelled." Unfortunately for Jeremie, William was 'randomly' selected to be one of the jurors in the trial.

"I don't know what to do. Will you let me think about it?"

"Sure, of course." Jeremie walks back to his room thinking about everything that was going on. William unfortunately was plotting in his room. Being possessed by XANA, he had no control over what he was doing. His movements were controlled by XANA, his thoughts were controlled by XANA.

_Jeremie has discovered the modification. If he succeeds, this body will be banished from this school, and I will have to start all over again. I must stop Jeremie at all costs._

With that, William snuck out of his room and made his way to Jeremie's. By the time he got there, Jeremie was already fast asleep. William walked inside and locked the door. It was then that Jeremie woke up to find William standing above him.

"William? What are you doing here?" Jeremie asks, still half asleep, his brain trying to understand why William was standing above him. With one sharp kick to the head, Jeremie was unconscious and William was free to dispose of him. Jeremie was bleeding from a small, thin cut on the side of his head, and from the mouth.

I can't get rid of him. I need him to transfer Aelita to Lyoko eventually so I can steal the rest of her memory. I will take him to a secure place.

And with that, William picked up Jeremie's unconscious body and carried him outside.

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**Anybody have any guesses on where he's taking Jeremie? R&R with a guess! This story is coming to a close, but a sequal will be coming. I welcome any Ideas you guys have for the sequal, or for any other story for that matter!**  



	26. Interrogation

**Yay! Another chappy! (Whips out Ulrichs katana and puts it in your face) BE HAPPY ABOUT IT!**

**I officially dedicate this chappy to: Fox Kitsune. Because... well just because. **

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(Odd P.O.V.) 

The day after, I wake up to find Ulrich sound asleep. For once.

_Wow, I managed to wake up before him? That's amazing!_

I walk over to him and toss a pillow in his face.

"Hey wake up." I say, although because of the earplugs, he can't hear me. He immediately jolts out of bed looking scared.

"No, Yumi, don't leave me!" He yells. I just laugh. He was having another dream about Yumi. No wonder he didn't wake up.

I take my normal shower and go down for breakfast. Once again, they're serving something that is supposed to resemble food. I think our cook is a bad artist. I sit down in my normal seat, Ulrich next to me.

"Yay. What a great breakfast." Ulrich mumbles and begins cautiously eating his food.

"What's wrong Ulrich, you look like it's going to bite you back." I say, and shovel a huge lump into my mouth.

"You never know Odd. Remember that time XANA used a ghost to make the food attack us? It could happen." (A/N: I just made that up, it's in the time between season one and this story. Sounds pretty funny though.)

"Hey boys. Where's Jeremie?" Aelita says, sitting down.

"Dunno. He hasn't shown up yet. I'll bet he's working on your anti-virus." I say through a mouthful of food.

"Don't talk with your mouth full."

"Yes, **MOM**. Sheesh."

"What do you say we go and drag him out here?" Ulrich suggests.

"Now there's an idea. It just depends on who were talking about." Macas says, walking up.

"Jeremie. He hasn't shown up for breakfast." Said Ulrich.

"Then let's go." I say and stand up. The others follow me and we walk over to Jeremie's room. I open the door quickly and jump into the room.

"Hey Einstein, let's go. Breakfasts a- wait, where is he?"

"Jeremie?" Aelita says cautiously, walking into the room. "Well, that's strange. He left his computer running. He never does that anymore."

"Wait a second." Macas quickly jumps on the computer and clicks a few times, pushing some keys, and the like. "Someone deleted his program. The one he was using to extract the parts of the video. And it wasn't him; it was from an outside source. The CD is gone too."

"XANA?" Ulrich says.

"I think so. I'll bet he just left and someone came in here and turned off his protection. XANA could never penetrate his firewalls."

"So where's Jeremie?" Aelita says.

"I don't know. Is his cell phone here?" Macas asks.

"Nope. He always leaves it here. He must have taken it with him. Don't worry. If he needs any help, he'll call us." I say, leaving to go back to the cafeteria.

Where could he be? It's not as if he ever goes anywhere. Oh, I know. He's probably at the factory, working on the anti-virus.

I tell my friends of my thoughts and they seem to agree. Unfortunately, Yumi tells us in second period that Jeremie wasn't in math. He doesn't show up for any of the other classes, even computer programming (So said Macas). Jeremie would never miss a computer class, something is wrong. We go and check the nurse's office, but he isn't there. We call his phone and get his voicemail, we check the factory, we look in every place we can think of, no Jeremie.

"It's almost time for dinner." Aelita says, looking discouraged. "Odd, would you like to come with me and check his room again?"

"Sure. I'll see you at dinner guys." Ulrich nods and he and Macas walk off. Aelita and I walk in silence for a while, trying to think of someplace we hadn't looked, some detail we hadn't checked. Nothing, Jeremie had vanished without a trace.

XANA has to be behind it. Why else would Jeremie's computer be changed? I'll bet XANA attacked Jeremie and stole the disc. But where did Jeremie go? And how did he manage to hurt Jeremie in the first place, he would have had to possess someone, and that would have sounded the alarm on Jeremie's computer.

"Aelita, why did you ask me to come? Why not Ulrich?'

"What, I can't just ask for some free time with you?"

"Of course you can but…."

"There is something I wanted to say though. I decided to tell you because you would be the one person least likely to overreact."

"Overreact about what?"

"There was more to my vision."

"Really? Like what?"

"A prophecy."

"Wait, a prophecy means like predicting the future right?"

"Yes, Franz Hopper made it before he was deleted by XANA."

"What was it about?" I ask, and listen in awe as she retells it.

"Does Jeremie know?"

"No. I told you because I thought you wouldn't overreact about me not telling you before."

"I understand. But why didn't you tell us?"

"I don't know, I just felt like this was the wrong time. I know now that telling you was a good thing. I want you to tell Ulrich. I will tell Yumi myself, and Jeremie, when we find him."

"Okay, sure thing. What if the prophecy wasn't about Macas though?"

"Who else would it be about?"

"I don't know…." I was thinking maybe me. My mom abused me. I have friends who fight the inevitable. The girl who remembers not…

Maybe I'm supposed to defeat XANA with the help of Aelita. Aelita doesn't remember her past… (Normal P.O.V.) Odd was thinking about Aelita, and a blush came to his cheeks slightly. He turned away and it disappeared before Aelita saw. Odd had been truthfully struggling with that comment Ulrich made. 'I have Yumi, Jeremie has Aelita, and you have no one.' Odd was thinking about all his girlfriends, and none of them really made him felt like when he was with Aelita. Sometimes it was hard to keep his voice steady when he talked to her, he felt weak-kneed when she came into view. It's just a high school crush, that's all. He told himself. No one knew about it, he was sure of that. He never mentioned it to Ulrich; he never ever slipped up while talking to anyone. 

"Well, lets see if Jeremie's back…" Aelita said as we entered his room, finding it unlocked. "Oh no. He's not here either. This is the last place, there's no where else he could go. Oh Odd, where is he?" Aelita said, throwing herself into his arms crying.

"I don't know Aelita. But wherever he is, we'll find him. I promise." Odd could barely control his voice, his voice cracked when he made that promise. Aelita didn't even notice, she was crying too much. Odd gently sat her down on the bed and sat beside her. Then he spotted something strange on the bedsheets. He pulled away the blanket a bit, revealing a ghastly sight.

"Aelita look at this." He said pointing at a dark red stain on the sheet, near where Jeremie's head would be if he were laying down.

"What is it?"

"I think it might be blood. I think XANA has attacked Jeremie." Aelita looks at him strangely.

"Oh no. Let's call the police."

"Yah, but first we had better talk to the principal." Odd says and they walk over to the principal's office.

"We need to talk to Mr. Delmas, it's important." Odd says to his secretary.

"Of course, go ahead. He's not busy right now." She says and waves them towards his office. Odd peeks his head inside.

"Mr. Delmas sir? Can we talk to you for a second? It's really important."

"Of course, come in Mr. Della-Robbia. And I see you brought Ms. Stones with you."

"Yes sir. Jeremie Belpois was absent from all his classes today, and we got worried. We went to see if he was in his room and he wasn't there. I saw a stain on the sheets that looked like blood. I think, maybe something happened to him." Odd says quickly.

"So neither of you have seen him all day?"

"No, and no one we talked to." Aelita says. Mr. Delmas pushes a button on his phone and starts talking to his secretary.

"Yes, get the police on the phone right away, tell them there might have been a kidnapping and I'm going to check it out." He says and hangs up. "Now, please take me to his room." Aelita and Odd take him to Jeremie's room and show him the sheets.

"Nothing has ever happened like this before. That is definitely blood, we should have the police come and dust for fingerprints." He says and runs out of the room.

_If only you knew how many times you've dealed with something like this before. XANA has attacked so many times._ Odd thought to himself. The police are there shortly and want to ask some questions. Odd calls Ulrich and tells him to hurry and come over.

(Ulrich P.O.V.)

I get called on my cell by Odd about five minutes before dinner ends.

"Hey Odd, any news?"

"Unfortunately yes."

"What do you mean unfortunately? Any news is good news."

"Not this time. Jeremie wasn't in his room, but Aelita and I found a large bloodstain on his bed, it was half covered up by his blanket. The principal called the police, they wanted ask us some questions. Can you go get Yumi? Macas need to come too."

"Sure. I'll be there with Yumi in about twenty minutes; I have to go to her house. Macas should be there shortly." I say and hang up.

"What was that about?" Macas asks and stops eating.

"Odd and Aelita found a large bloodstain on Jeremie's bed. The police want us so they can ask some questions. I need to go get Yumi, you need to go to Jeremie's room. Whatever you do, don't mention Lyoko at all."

"Okay, right." Macas says and gets up. We leave together and part ways. I head towards the city, Macas heads towards the dorms. I call Yumi on my cell.

"Hello?"

"Yumi, we have a problem."

"What's that? Is XANA attacking again?"

"No, Jeremie is still missing. Aelita and Odd found a large blood stain in his bed. They called the police, they want to ask us some questions."

"Oh that's terrible! What could have happened to him?"

"I have no idea. Can you start walking to the school? I'll meet you somewhere along the way."

"Sure. I'll see you in a few. Bye."

"Bye." I hang up and head towards Yumi's house. I meet her about halfway and escort her to the school. We head straight for Jeremie's room to find three police officers, Jim, the principal and the rest of the group (minus Jeremie). Macas is staring off into the distance, obviously thinking hard. Aelita is clutching on to Odd, I think this is all very traumatic for her.

"Oh, here we are. Yumi, Ulrich, do either of you know where Jeremie could possibly be?" Jim asks, looking sincere.

"I seriously have no idea." I say immediately.

"Me neither." Yumi replies after I do.

"I think I will question them all individually. Ms. Ishiyama, could you come with me for a second?" I give Yumi and encouraging nod and she walks off with the principal. The police officers finish dusting the room for fingerprints.

"Now, we need to get fingerprints from all of you." Says one of them, holding out a black ink pad and a paper.

"What for? We didn't do anything." Odd says. He's actually serious for once.

"I know. We need to establish which fingerprints aren't yours. That could lead us to the culprit." We each stand up in turn and give him our fingerprints.

"Now as soon as we get the girl's, we can send them to the lab for testing." As if on cue Yumi just walked in. She looked about to cry, and Mr. Delmas walked in after her.

"Mr. Della-Robbia, you next." Odd gets up and walks out the door after Mr. Delmas. The cop takes Yumi's fingerprint and then they all leave.

"Yumi, what did he want?"

"He just wanted my story about Jeremie. I think he's going to compare to see if anyone's lying."

"Don't worry. It's no big deal, we all have the same story anyway. After dinner last night, Jeremie went to bed early. We haven't seen him since."

"He asked me some more detailed questions, like what did we talk about during dinner last night."

"What did you say?"

"I said that I wasn't there for dinner, I went home. Simple as that."

"But what about us? We can't say we went home for dinner."

"Easy. Whoever goes next will say they don't remember what we talked about. While they're gone, the other person will compare stories with Odd to make sure it matches up." Aelita says.

"Aelita, that's brilliant! You really are a genius!" Yumi says.

"Thank you." Odd comes back in.

"Mr. Stern, now you please." I follow Mr. Delmas down the hall, he leads me into an empty room.

"Now, do you know where Jeremie is? This is important because he could be in serious trouble. If you have any idea whatsoever, I need to know."

"I'm sorry sir, I haven't any idea where he is."

"Not a clue? Did he mention anything about his intentions last night?"

"No."

"Do you remember what was said at dinner?"

"What does that have to do with this?"

"Please just answer the question." I pretend to rack my brain, looking confused.

"No, I don't remember. I was worried about what I'm going to get on my math test coming up and didn't say much."

"Well, I can tell why you and Mr. Della-Robbia are friends. He said he was too busy eating to remember what was said."

"Yah, that's Odd for yah."

"Where is Jeremie's favorite place to 'hang out?' Do you know?"

"Whenever I talk to Jeremie, he's usually in his room."

I have to be careful. Anything I say could be used to compare against what Aelita and Macas say. I have to say things that are pretty generic.

"Does Jeremie have any secrets, something that could get him in trouble?"

If only you knew… 

"Um… I don't think so. Jeremie's a model student."

"What exactly does he do on his computer? He seems to spend a lot of time on it."

"He tried explaining it to me once. He said he could like discombobulate the conspacticator, and speed up the whosimawutsifut. Or, that's about what I understood."

"Seems Jeremie is quite the genius. Okay you're free to go. Please send in Mr. Keloly."

"Okay Sir. I hope we can find Jeremie." I walk back to Jeremie's room and tell Macas where to go.

"What did you decide on for a cover story?" I ask as soon as the door closes.

"The truth." Yumi states simply.

"What?"

"Don't worry. Everything except XANA. We're just going to tell him we were talking about Macas trial. Which is what we did." Aelita says quickly.

"Oh, okay. You had me scared there for a second."

Macas came back and Aelita left. We sat in silence, waiting for something to happen. Aelita came back and she was almost in tears. Mr. Delmas told us we were free to go, and he would tell us immediately if anything came up. Odd offered to walk Aelita back to her room, while Macas and I walk Yumi back to her house.

"Do either of you have any ideas about where Jeremie could be?" I ask as we walk.

"Well, remember that time XANA made a Franz Hopper replica? Jeremie called his dad, I think he wanted to go to another school. Maybe he actually did it." Yumi suggests.

"No, he left all his stuff. And that doesn't explain the bloodstain." Macas says.

"I've only got one small idea that's been at the back of my mind this entire time. Lyoko."

"But how?" Yumi asks with obvious disbelief in her voice.

"I don't know. XANA could have possessed someone, but it would have set off the alarm on Jeremie's computer. Jeremie would have called us and left before the person could have attacked him. That means that somehow, the superscan has been tampered with."

"That's good thinking. It's possible that XANA managed to tamper with it, but unlikely. Jeremie has that thing locked up tight." Yumi says.

"Macas, how good are you with computers?" I ask him.

"Not bad. Why?"

"Could you modify the superscan? To scan Lyoko for people instead of activated towers?"

"I could try. But it would take me a while." We arrive at Yumi's house and we say our good-byes. I promise to keep Yumi posted if anything comes up.

"Let's stop by Jeremie's room and grab his laptop. The sooner you change the superscan, the better."

"Good idea." We stop at Jeremie's room and grab his laptop. I stop at my room and Macas continues on to his. I enter to find Odd asleep. I quickly pull of my shirt, pants and shoes and crawl into bed. As I drift off, I'm sure everyone is thinking the same thing:

_Where is Jeremie?

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_

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	27. Jeremie discovered

**I am so sorry this took so long to update. I have been kicked off the internet, but not the computer. I have actually had this chappy written for a while, but I couldn't update it. I dedicate this chappy to Am I Odd, because they were my 100th reviewer! Whoohooo! Yippee! I'm being stupid again, plz enjoy.**

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(Macas P.O.V.) 

I wake up in the morning to someone knocking at my door. I quickly sit up, for I had been laying down with my head resting on my keyboard. I had stayed up as long as possible last night trying to find a way to convert this program from finding activated towers to finding people. I'm not nearly as good as Jeremie. I open the door and Ulrich is standing there.

"Hey, why weren't you at breakfast?" I do a double take.

_I missed breakfast?_

I look at my clock, and it's 7:32. School starts in twenty-eight minutes.

"I was working on the superscan."

"You woke up early to do that and skipped breakfast?"

"No, I stayed up late and slept in." I say and laugh.

"So, how's it going?"

"Well, it's more complicated than it sounds. I transferred the program to my computer so we can take Jeremie's laptop back."

"Okay. How far have you gotten?"

"Well, it doesn't scan for towers anymore."

"That's good."

"No, now it scans for nothing."

"That's not good." I grab Jeremie's laptop and we head for his room. As we drop it off, I realize something.

"If Jeremie's CD was gone, that means XANA must have possessed someone to take it."

"Yah, you're right! We'll tell everyone else later. Right now we have to get to class. If I get caught being late again, I'm in detention for a week."

"Okay, let's go." We run off to our respective first periods. School goes as normal, except for the missing Jeremie. After school we meet at the bench that I first met the gang at.

"I miss Jeremie." Aelita says.

"I do too. Computer Programming was boring without him. Usually we race to see who can finish first, but this time I was bored. I was done first, so I worked on the superscan a little bit more." I say, leaning against a tree.

"How's it coming?" Odd asks.

"I managed to get it to scan for things, I just need to tell it what now."

"I think you should be worrying about other things than that right now." Yumi says.

"Like what?"

"Your trial is tomorrow. If anything, you should be trying to finish what Jeremie started."

"Oh shit, you're right… how can I though? Jeremie said the program would take a couple of days to work, but now its tomorrow and we have nothing."

"I have an idea." Aelita says.

"What's that?"

"Use a return to the past."

"No, you know why we can't do that," I say, "but I might have another idea. Use the supercalculater to run the program. Using it, it should only take a couple of hours."

"Now that's an idea! Let's go try it right now." Odd says.

"But we still don't have Jeremie's program." Ulrich says.

"Well, we can still check it out." I say. We all head over to the factory. I have got to get a skateboard of my own; I had to run this time. We head down to the supercalculater room and I sit down in the chair.

"I need Jeremie's password to enter. Do any of you know it?" I ask. Everyone shakes their heads but Aelita.

"I think I might know…." She types in PRINCESS AELITA.

ACCESS GRANTED.

"Nice going. I should have guessed." I quickly scan through the files.

"Oh HELL YES!" I shout.

"What?" Everyone crowds around.

"Jeremie made backups of all his files on his computer the night when he was taken. I have the program right here!" Everyone is happy except for Ulrich.

"But, what about the CD? If I don't give it back, I'll get suspended." He says. Everyone quickly becomes downcast because nobody wants Ulrich expelled.

"I might have a solution…." I say slowly. "I could be possible to re-create the CD. I have all the files right here. I just need the exact same brand of CD to put it on."

"What about Mr. Delmas' signature?"

"I don't know. Could we possibly steal a copy of it? Write it ourselves?"

"It's possible. Maybe. But we would have to sneak into his office and steal a document."

"I'll do it." Odd says immediately. He takes off into the elevator before we can say a thing about it.

"Well, there's no stopping him now." Yumi says. "We can only hope he doesn't get busted."

"Odd is good at this kind of thing. Don't worry, he'll make it out in one piece." Ulrich says.

"Well, nothing left to do but wait. Actually, I can start the program." I turn to the computer and press a couple of keys. The computer beeps and the program starts running full speed. We wait for about thirty minutes, not talking much. The elevator starts up and everyone jumps up anxiously. The door opens and Mr. Delmas walks out with Sissi, Odd and Jim behind him. We all stare in surprise.

"Sorry guys. I got busted." Odd says and looks directly at me. He mouths something that looks like _return to the past_. I nod and turn to the computer, typing frantically.

"Mr. Keloly, get away from that computer. You are all in serious trouble." Mr. Delmas says. I quickly search for the controls to the program.

"Hey, Mr. Delmas said stop!" Jim says and starts walking towards me. I found the program and frantically start it up.

TIME COORDINATES?

I type in a couple of random numbers and today's date. I am just about to push the return key when Jim's hand grabs mine.

"Come on now, get out of the chair." He pulls me away from the chair.

"I'm sorry Jim…." I say apologetically. I sweep my legs underneath his and he falls hard. I jump over and press the return key just as Mr. Delmas grabs me.

"Return to the past!" I yell and the white light envelops us all.

"Yes Mr. Keloly, could you tell me the answer?" Mr. Johnson says pointing at me with his ruler. The RTTP obviously returned me back to my Math Class earlier today.

"Um… could you please repeat the question?" I say and everyone else in the class sniggers.

"Please pay attention. The question is what is the quadratic formula?" He says obviously annoyed at me.

"It's um… oh yah. It's negative B plus or minus the square root of B squared minus 4AC all over 2A."

"Yes, and how does that help us with parabolas?"

"It give us the exact coordinates of where the parabola intersects the X-axis."

"Very good." He turns away and start babbling about something else. I lean over to Yumi.

"What do you think happened to Odd?" I whisper.

"I don't know. I don't know why he would lead Mr. Delmas and Jim straight to the factory. Odd would never betray us like that." I pull out my phone under the desk and text message Odd.

What happened?

-M

"Mr. Keloly, what is that?" Mr. Johnson says to me. I sit back up quickly.

"Nothing." I say quickly. I put my phone in between my knees and hold it there.

"Show me your hands." I hold up my hands showing there's nothing there.

"Well, pay attention. This is important." He says and starts talking about his favorite college football team and how they are all the best. (A/N: My math teacher does that.)

The rest of the class went uneventful except for one thing, Mr. Johnson smashed one of those mirrors that girls carry around with them with a hammer. (A/N: My math teacher does that too.)

The rest of the day goes uneventful too. Jim gives no mention of anything during P.E, meaning that the RTTP was successful. Odd did not text message me back all day. After P.E, we go to lunch. Spaghetti and Meatballs, if you can call it that. Odd still stuffs himself.

"Hey Odd, why did you lead them to the factory?" I ask as soon as I sit down.

"Oh no reason. I just thought they ought to know."

"Odd, that's not funny." Yumi says.

"Look, I don't want to talk about it okay?" Odd dumps his tray and walks off.

"Oh shit. I'd better go apologize." I walk out after Odd. I see him leaning against the tree over by the bench where I first met him. "Odd?" He sees me and looks away.

"Odd. I'm sorry man. I was just wondering, I never thought you would bring them back to the factory."

"It's okay. I think I may have overreacted."

"Can you tell me why?"

"Mr. Delmas threatened me."

"What? He threatened you? With what? I mean, it's not like he can lower your grades for not telling him."

"He threatened… he threatened to tell my Mother." Realization dawns on me.

"Oh. I understand. I'm sure everyone else will if we explain it to them."

"I know. I just don't want anyone to think I was scared."

"There's nothing wrong with being scared. My dad used to scare me all the time. Then I realized something."

"What?"

"There's nothing to be scared of. I just had some old stupid half-conscious delusional guy swinging his fists at me. If I kept my cool and thought things through, I would usually get away with only a couple of bruises. When I was scared, I couldn't move because of it, and I got clobbered."

"I guess you're right. I was being stupid."

"Nah. So how did you get caught?"

"Well, actually I was being stupid. I decided the best way to enter the principal's office would be to go through the window. It's on the first floor, it wouldn't be too hard. I check inside, there's no one in sight. So I carefully open the window and climb inside. It so happens that Mr. Delmas chose that moment to walk inside."

"Yah, bad luck there."

"So, he basically threatened to tell my Mom that I broke into his office. After that, everything was a blur. I just remember walking out of the elevator saying I got busted."

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure no one blames you. We just have another day to see if we can find Jeremie. Come on, let's go back to lunch." We head back to the cafeteria. At lunch, no one mentions Odd's mess up, and everything goes smoothly.

Immediately after school, I head for the factory. I check up on the extractor program, it's about three quarters done. Everyone else shows up shortly after, they seemed to know I would come here.

"So, how goes the program?" Aelita asks.

"Actually, it's going great. It's about three quarters done. It should be done by tomorrow easily."

"But… the CD…." Ulrich says. Odd doesn't look like he's up to trying to steal it again.

"I don't know Ulrich. But it looks like it's going to have to wait." The computer flashes a message to me:

ACTIVATED TOWER IN FOREST SECTOR

"XANA's up to no good again. Time for you-who-it's-us again." Odd says. I look at him weirdly.

"That's what I call it. Basically we go in there, say 'you who, it's us!' and kick XANA's butt. Aelita deactivates the tower, we go home."

"Okay then… let's go." We all start for the elevator. "Wait a minute, who's going to transfer us? Jeremie isn't here, and Aelita has to go to Lyoko."

"Don't worry, I can set it to scan us in automatically." Aelita says. Everyone else, including me, heads for the elevators. "Wait a second Macas, I need to talk to you." I stop and turn around. The others go ahead and go to the scanners. Aelita scans them in while I wait, and then sets it to scan us in.

"Okay, what did you want to talk to me about?" She turns to me.

"I had a vision."

"Okay… what kind of vision?"

"When I was first materialized, I had visions of this old house called the hermitage, but they stopped. A couple of days ago, I had a vision where I actually read XANA's files, his personal thoughts."

"What was he thinking about?"

"You."

"Why me?"

"Franz Hopper was the creator of Lyoko. Before XANA destroyed him, he made a prophecy that someone would come and destroy him. You match that prophecy perfectly."

"Well, that explains some things. Like the fact that I knew subconsciously about Lyoko."

"Yah it does."

"Well, lets go, the others are waiting for us."

"Wait, aren't you scared? You have to face XANA, possibly alone, and kill him."

"Sure I am. But now's not the time to worry about it."

"Well, XANA knows about the prophecy, he's after you."

"Okay."

"Be careful, XANA will do anything to destroy you." I smile.

"I will. Now let's go kick XANA's virtual ass." She smiles back and starts the timer. We head down to the scanners and step inside. It virtualizes us and we drop down in the forest sector near Odd Ulrich and Yumi.

"Okay guys, we don't know what the attack is, so we have to hurry up. We have no clue what XANA is doing out in the real world." I say.

"Right. Looks like we never got a chance to really test out your combat skills, did we Macas?"

"No time like the present!' I say and run off towards where the tower should be. We stop and see no monsters.

"Hey, what gives? Is this the right tower?" I say stopping.

"Yah, it's got the red aura around it. Strange there's no monsters." Ulrich says looking around suspiciously.

"That probably means XANA is doing something really bad on the outside world. Aelita quickly, to the tower." Yumi says and points. Aelita runs, and I get a vision of Aelita being hit. I quickly throw my sword; it blocks the laser and flies off. A block steps out from behind a tree. My sword twists in midair and flies back to me. I catch it and block an incoming shot.

"Woah, cool feature. I never knew I had that." I say and rush off. As it turns out, this entire setup was an ambush. XANA knew we didn't have Jeremie to warn us of incoming monsters, so he set about fifteen blocks and about ten crabs in hiding around the tower. We fight hard, but I'm inexperienced against so many enemies. I lose life points quickly. Odd and Yumi aren't doing much better, but nothing seems to hit Ulrich.

All of the sudden, the fighting stops. All lasers stop firing and everything halts. Then, simultaneously, all monsters turn and open fire on Ulrich. Even he can't block so many lasers and is devirtualized quickly. I take advantage of their distraction and kill three blocks. Odd follows suit, destroying four crabs. Unfortunately, all monsters turn to Odd and fire upon him. His shield is no use, he too is devirtualized. Now, only Yumi and I are left to fight about ten monsters. Yumi does a backflip and lands on top of a crab. Using one fan, she destroys it while throwing the other to the crab next to it, destroying it as well. All the crabs are gone except one, and only six blocks are left. All the remaining blocks turn towards Yumi.

"Yumi! Buy me some time!" I yell as I destroy another block. Yumi does this cool flip off the crab she just destroyed and pulls out her fans in midair. She twirls around fast, she's like a blur, with her fans as a shield. She lands and keeps twirling, deflecting laser bolts back towards their owners and destroying them.

"How's that for buying time?" She asks. I see her vanish into the wireframe, she was devirtualized by a shot to the head from the last block. I throw my sword at it and the block is gone. I smile as the sword returns to me.

"Aelita, now's your chance, go for the tower!"

"Ulrich, any signs of what's happening in the real world?" I ask as Aelita runs.

"Nope, everything's fine. Aelita's entering the tower. As far as I can tell, there's no need to return to the past. Hey, watch out, there's a large red dot on the screen, coming towards you fast. Too fast…." I see a silvery blur streaking towards me along the forest path.

"Macas, watch out. This is a Jag, a kamikaze monster. One touch and is detonates destroying itself and you."

"Oh shit!" I jump out of the way just before it would have hit me. It turns on a dime and comes towards me again.

"What's taking Aelita so long?" I ask desperately. I have to do a front flip to avoid it this time.

"XANA tried to buy himself some time, he put a small firewall around the tower's code. It will only take a minute for Aelita to get through it."

"Has he ever done that before?"

"No, I think he knew Jeremie could hack through it in seconds."

"Well, I'm kind of running out of tricks here, could she possibly hurry up?" I say as I jump over it, slashing at it while in the air. I missed, and the Jag ran past again. This time it jumped off the path, hit a tree, and jumped back on again running towards me, I just barely manage to jump out of the way. It comes again, I throw my sword at it. Of course the Jag dodges and the sword returns to me. I have only one trick left.

"Ulrich, I'm out of ideas. If this doesn't work, I'm screwed."

"She's going as fast as she can. Can't you just destroy it?"

"I don't have superspeed like you, or projectiles like Yumi and Odd. I'm kind of stuck. Here goes nothing!" I set my sword blade flat against the ground, facing it towards the oncoming Jag. I wait patiently as the Jag comes nearer….

Just a millisecond before the Jag were to hit me, I flip my blade up, literally catapulting the Jag over my head, into the air and off the side. It falls into the empty space beyond the land and I see an explosion.

"Ulrich? What happens when you fall off the side?"

"It's called the digital void. Anything that falls into it is deleted permanently."

"Okay. I'm making a mental note to avoid at all costs."

"Good idea. Aelita finished, she's deactivating the tower. Wait a second…."

"What's up?" I ask.

"What the hell?" He says. "Aelita's coming back now, the tower's deactivated. There's another dot on your screen, but it's not a monster. I looks like another player. It might actually be XANA." He says.

"No Ulrich. I can see him. It's not XANA."

"Did XANA get some kind of henchman?"

"Yah. And his name is Jeremie…."

* * *

**Muahahahahahaha. Evil cliffy. I guess you all found out what happened to Jeremie now. I've got to thank you all who reviewed. All those 4s made me feel like some people actually liked my writing. Wait for the next chappy, you get to see what I would make Jeremie look like in Lyoko! (Don't be surprised if it's something stupid. My brain thinks up some weird things.) This was my longest chappy yet, over 3,000 WORDS! That's like, a lot of words. Until next time, heres a couple fun quotes:**

**"Why isn't phoenetic spelled how it sounds?" -me**

**"Track is completely pointless. No matter how fast you run, you always end up back where you started." -me (Don't kill me if you like track. I just thought it up when we were being forced to run laps in PE)**

**"There are 3 kings of people in this world. Those who watch things happen, those who make things happen, and those who wonder what happened." -a friend**


	28. Confrontation and Hiroki's note

**Okay, you should all be incredibly happy with this chappy because it is over three thousand words! That makes up for the long wait, right? I hope so! Sorry about that, I just ran into some problems. I spent a long time trying to get this part just right. Please don't kill me for what Jeremie looks like, I think it's pretty cool. This chappy is dedicated to whoever thinks they deserve a dedication. If you don't think you deserve one, it's probably because YOU HAVEN'T REVIEWED! So do a review, and maybe the next one will be for you. To all those who did review, I thank you. It really helps. Anyways, I left you at a cliffy last time, so here we go!

* * *

**(Macas P.O.V.)

**Flashback**

"What the hell?" He says. "Aelita's coming back now, the tower's deactivated. There's another dot on your screen, but it's not a monster. I looks like another player. It might actually be XANA." He says.

"No Ulrich. I can see him. It's not XANA."

"Did XANA get some kind of henchman?"

"Yah. And his name is Jeremie…."

**End Flashback**

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Jeremie is here, I can see him right now." Jeremie is standing near a tree, smirking at me. He has a skintight black jumpsuit on, and flexible armor overtop of that. The armor has a black breastplate, dark red shoulder pads, and a red abdominal section. The section outside the abdominal is pitch black and goes all the way around his torso, connecting with the shoulder pads in back. He's got black gloves and boots on as well as a red belt. His face has two markings, both black, striped on his cheeks. But it's his eyes that are the most striking feature. No longer their normal color, they've become pure black. Not warm black, like Yumi's eyes, but empty and cold.

"So, Macas. We meet again. How nice it's just me and you. We're both basically rookies, so this should be an interesting fight."

"Come on Jeremie, you don't want to fight me." I say backing away.

"Oh, I think I do. Besides, how else could I win? Oh, of course, you could surrender. Submit yourself to XANA's will, I'm sure you'll find it much more rewarding, as I have."

"No, I don't believe that. Jeremie would never join XANA, not the Jeremie I know…."

"Oh, but you've only known me for a couple of days. You have no idea what I would or wouldn't do."

"Maybe not, but everyone else does. Gleaning information from their reaction, I'd say they are as surprised as I am." I could hear Ulrich gasp when Jeremie said he had joined XANA. Then Jeremie changes. His eyes become blue again, the markings on his face turn red. He looks like he's struggling with himself. He looks up at me with desperation.

"Macas! I didn't join XANA, he's controlling me! I broke free for a second…." He turns back and then good again.

"Can't hold him off much longer. Your CD is hidden in my room, even XANA doesn't know where. Aelita will know. Tell her I love her, and I'm sorry…." He turns evil again.

"Jeremie! Fight it! XANA couldn't control me, he can't control you!" Jeremie turns good again, but it looks like he's about to faint.

"When you find 'The Destroyer,' use it on me. I'd rather die than serve XANA." Jeremie falls to the ground and turns evil again. He stands up and dusts himself off.

"I guess there's nothing left to do now but kill you…." He walks out to the middle of the path and turns to me. "One last chance. Join me now, or I'll toss you into the digital void." I back away some more, trying to find a way out of this.

'Uh, Ulrich? What are Jeremie's weapons?"

"Uh, I'm not sure. The last time he was there, the computer generated a random character." I envision Jeremie pulling out a pistol, faster than the normal eye can see. I quickly bring my sword up, just in time to block the shot.

"Okay, I think I found out his weapons. He's got a pistol that fires lasers." Jeremie smirks. I see another vision, except he fires multiple rounds. I bring my sword back up and block all the lasers, but just barely.

"Make that an automatic pistol." He smirks again. Even faster than before, he starts firing shots, at least ten a second. I block some, dodge some, but I'm hit a couple times. As soon as he stops, I notice something else.

"Oh shit, make that two automatic pistols. I'm definitely going to need some help."

"Sorry Macas, all our characters have to recharge for an hour before we can go back. Unfortunately, you're on your own with thirty life points left." I feel pressure on my throat, Jeremie is holding out a clenched hand. I can't talk, not a sound. If it was physically possible to breath on Lyoko, I'm sure I couldn't. He pulls his fist in, and I come flying in towards him and skid on the ground. I quickly get back up, and he laughs.

"You're always so ready Macas, I like that about you."

"Unfortunately, you know me only as well as I know Jeremie. You barely know the first thing about me." I direct my speech to XANA because I know it isn't Jeremie that's controlling that body.

"On the contrary, I know a lot about you. XANA has researched your past, he knows everything about you."

"Oh really? There's some things you can't learn by research."

"Like what?"

"Like what did my father make me do when he took me out of school?"

"He made you a drug delivery boy." I step back startled.

"Macas, he heard you tell your story. He knows everything about you that I do." Ulrich says.

"Well then, I'm just going to have to stump him with something that even you don't know." I pretend to think for a moment. Jeremie lowers his pistols, and I jump into action. I lunge forward with my sword aiming for his head. With lightning fast reflexes, he pulls out his gun and puts it my throat, at the exact same time my sword comes down to his head. We stand there for a second, his gun at my throat, my sword tip just a millimeter away from his head.

"Well, it seems we're at an impasse XANA." I say smiling.

"It seems it would be so. But I can also just pull my trigger and blow you away. It would be so simple." He says with a smirk.

"But you forgot one thing."

"What's that?"

"I can see your attack before it happens. One brief vision, and you're dead." Jeremie scowls.

"So, what now? I can stay here forever, I don't get tired. You're only human, you do."

"Not in Lyoko I don't. And when I die, I just go back to the real world, you wouldn't. So I suggest one thing."

"What's that?"

"We lower our weapons and walk away. This is a fight for another day."

"Deal." I slowly pull my sword away from his head while he takes his gun away from my throat. I step back and retract my laser sword back into the handle putting it away. As soon as I do, I get another vision of Jeremie shooting at me. I try to react quickly enough, but I'm too late. A bright red laser, brighter than normal, hits me in the stomach, throwing me back and devirtualizing me. I feel my body fade into wireframe and then vanish completely. I wake up in the scanners immediately feeling nauseous. I stand up and it worsens. I keel over and nearly start losing my lunch. I clutch my stomach and that's when everyone else walks in.

"Macas!" Yumi kneels by me and puts a hand on my back. I start coughing up blood, and I feel myself hit the floor. The last thing I remember is everyone crowding around me before everything goes black.

* * *

(Ulrich P.O.V.) 

When Macas started coughing up blood, it was obvious something was wrong. Odd and I grabbed him, he was unconscious, and started carrying him outside. As soon as we do, Yumi and Aelita look him over.

"I can't explain it, he's just… sick." Aelita says.

"His breathing is shallow. Whatever happened, it's not good." Yumi says.

"Well, he was having problems with getting sick when he went to Lyoko before. But that was minor stuff, it's part of the return trip." Odd says.

"Well, either way we need to get him to the infirmary. Odd, help me carry him." I say. We each take one of his arms and lift. We carry him that way all the way back to the school. As soon as he's in the infirmary, Dorothy shoos us out. We wait patiently in the hall, all of us not wanting to vocalize the thing that had plagued our minds since Lyoko.

_Jeremie…_

Nurse Dorothy walks out and we all stand up.

"I'm not entirely sure what's wrong with him. All I can tell is that he isn't well. His pulse is erratic and he's not breathing well. His blood pressure skyrockets and then plummets. He keeps coughing up blood. I've never seen anything like it before."

"Can we see him?" Yumi asks.

"No, I'm afraid no one else can see him. I'll keep him here in the infirmary for now, but if he gets any worse he'll have to be transferred to the hospital." We thank her and walk away. No one seems to be going anywhere, so I head for Jeremie's room. It's the place where we always had our meetings. We walk in and immediately Aelita collapses in tears. Odd puts an arm around her and sits her on the bed. Yumi seems to be on the verge of tears, so I put my arm around her waist and pull her close to me. She lays her head on my shoulder. I decide it's going to have to be me who asks the question.

"Aelita, Jeremie talked to Macas on Lyoko. Do you know what he said?" She looks at me sadly.

"No… but it doesn't matter. He was controlled by XANA."

"For about thirty seconds, he broke free. He told us three things. First, he was sorry. Second, he loves you." Aelita looks at me with tears in her eyes.

"And third?"

"Third, XANA doesn't have the CD. He hid it before he was taken. He only said that you would know where it was." She looks at me strangely.

"But… I don't know…."

"I think if it was that easy, XANA would have found it. Think, did he give you any clues or riddles that you couldn't understand?"

"Well… there was one…."

"What was it?" I ask gently.

"He said 'My old computer holds many secrets.' I never knew why he told me that, or why he kept his old computer." I walk over to the closet and open it. Inside is his old computer which he stopped using long ago. It's only the main computer, the monitor is on his current one.

"So… what do we do with it?" I ask.

"Well, you might want to turn it on." Odd says. I push the button on the front, but nothing happens.

"It has no power supply. You need to plug it in." Aelita says. I walk over and pull a spare power cord out of Jeremie's closet, it's basically a computer store in there. Following Aelita's instructions, I plug the cord into the back and into the wall. I take one of Jeremie's current monitors and attach it to the computer, and grab a spare keyboard from the closet.

"Okay, let's hope it doesn't explode." I press the button and still nothing happens. "Okay, Aelita, come take a look at it. I'm stumped." She walks over and does a couple of things, mostly just checking plugs and stuff.

"I don't know, let me take a look inside it." Odd grabs a hammer and hands it to me.

"Very funny Odd." I toss the hammer onto Jeremie's bed and grab a screwdriver. I unscrew all the screws from the cover and it comes off. Aelita gives a gasp and I look inside. There's a bunch of stuff inside, just loose.

"Wow, Jeremie isn't very organized." Odd says. Aelita pulls out some of the items. I think Jeremie put it there because he thought no one would bother it. It's mostly just sentimental stuff, but right in the front is a CD case. I take it and open it. Inside is a CD with John-Pierre Delmas written on the front in permanent marker.

"Yes! It's the CD!" I put it in my pocket for safekeeping. Aelita pulls out the rest of the items and looks inside.

"Oh, it's that simple?" She plugs a wire back in and presses the button. The computer whirs to life, the monitor boots up. Aelita types a little and an audio file comes up. She plays it for all of us to hear.

"This is the computer of Jeremie Belpois. I keep it locked away and unplugged for a reason. This is where I keep all my most valuable and dangerous programs and files, along with other items of sentimental value to me. I strongly suggest anyone to put this computer back before they cause serious damage." The recording stops.

"So Aelita, what has it got on it?" Odd asks. She types some more and scans through a list.

"First and foremost, my materialization program. Then some backups of his most recent developments on my anti-virus. Then the marabounta program, along with some others. I think mostly Jeremie was just trying to keep everyone out of his computer, but there is some dangerous stuff in here."

"You can look at it later, right now we have more important things. Like dinner." Odd says. He gives Aelita a hand up, (she had been sitting on the floor) and we head for the cafeteria.

We don't talk very much during dinner. I don't say anything, only one thought keeps running through my head.

_Our numbers have dwindled to four. Who will be next?_

After dinner we go to the infirmary to see Macas.

"No, I'm sorry." She says.

"Is he any worse?" Yumi asks.

"No, but he's stable. His heart rate has become more constant, and so has his blood pressure. Only now he will twitch involuntarily every now and then."

"Has he woken up yet?"

"He regained consciousness for a second, but then passed out again. Maybe if you're lucky, you can see him tomorrow. But for now, you need to-." Dorothy was interrupted by a loud noise inside. She rushed back in and we followed her. Macas has having convulsions on the bed. Dorothy quickly takes a needle and injects him, he relaxes again. Yumi turns to me and starts crying on my shoulder. I pat her back and watch as Dorothy does the nurse-like things. What's really amazing is how Macas opens his eyes. He looks at us with concern in his eyes.

"XANA… virus… Jeremie's lasers… fighting him…." He manages to choke out. His eyes roll back in his head, he passes out again. This time, he seems to have fallen into a deep sleep. His chest rises and falls in steady rhythm. Dorothy takes his pulse and blood pressure and tells us it's returned more or less to normal.

"Do you know what he was talking about? Something about Jeremie's lasers?" We all shake our heads immediately.

"I think he might have been delusional." I say. Dorothy asks us a couple more questions, then shoos us out of the room again. We walk out into the hallway and sit down.

"What do you think he meant?" Odd asks.

"I don't know. Except Macas was infected with a virus, and is fighting either XANA or Jeremie."

"Come on, I want to go to the factory. I think I can check this out." Aelita says.

"No way. Today has been stressful enough. First the incident with Jim and Mr. Delmas, then we find out Jeremie has been controlled by XANA, and Macas has been infected with a deadly virus that is trying to kill him. It's nearly 8:30, enough time to get everyone to bed." Odd says firmly. We go our separate ways, I take Yumi home, while Odd takes Aelita back to her room. As Yumi and I walk back to her house, we are mostly silent. I think we prefer to be left with our thoughts for the time being."

"Here we are Yumi. Goodnight." I say as we reach her house.

"Come on in Ulrich, it's nice to have you over."

"No, I couldn't. I have to get back."

"Oh come on, please?" She looks at me with puppy-dog eyes.

"Oh okay. You know I can't resist the face."

"Exactly." She grabs me by the hand and pulls me in.

"Mom, I'm back." We walk into the kitchen.

"Oh hi Yumi. Why are you back so late? Oh, Ulrich, it's nice to see you."

"It's nice to see you too Mrs. Ishiyama."

"We were late because one of my friends at school suddenly collapsed. We took him to the infirmary, he was sick. I just stayed to make sure he was alright." Yumi explains.

"Oh, is he going to be okay?"

"I hope so. Dorothy said he was just sick."

"Well, I hope he gets better. So Ulrich, how are you doing?"

"I'm doing just fine."

_Except that one of my friends was just seriously hurt by XANA…_.

"That's good. Stick around for a while, I'm making some cookies."

"Okay sure. I just have to be back by curfew."

"Don't worry, you'll be back in time."

"Come on Ulrich, let's go up to my room…." Yumi says. I follow her and wave to Mr. Ishiyama as I walk up the stairs. We walk into Yumi's room and she sits on her bed.

"So, you wanna talk about me and my needs?" She says.

"Say what?"

_I thought that was something only married people do!_

"Uh… sure, I mean yah, if you want to, but uh…." I stutter but stop when Yumi starts laughing.

"I'm just kidding." I give a fake scowl and sit down.

"Actually, how is your mom doing? I mean after, well, you know…." I say completely serious. Yumi becomes serious too, noting my reaction.

"Well, okay I guess. I think she misses Dad though. I do too…." She leans closer to me and I put my arm around her protectively.

"It's okay Yumi. What about Hiroki?" She sniffles and thinks for a second.

"I'm not sure. He's been a lot more quiet lately, I don't know what's going on with him. I can barely get him to talk to me."

"How about we go and see what's up with him?"

"Yah, okay. Sure." We stand up and walk hand-in-hand to Hiroki's room and knock.

"Hiroki? Are you in there?" There's no reply so I open the door a crack. No one is in there.

"Hmm, where is he?" Yumi asks herself.

"Let's go ask your mom." We walk downstairs to find Mrs. Ishiyama pulling the cookies out of the oven.

"Oh, you're just in time, the cookies are done. Not we just have to wait for them to cool a little, then enjoy."

"Hey Mom, do you know where Hiroki is?"

"Oh, he's in his room."

"No he isn't, we just checked there."

"Are you sure?" She takes one of the cookies and takes a small bite. "Mmm, delicious. Here, try one." She offers us a plate, we each take one. I take a bite out of one, it's warm, gooey and delicious.

"We just checked a second ago, he wasn't in there. Unless he was like hiding underneath his bed." I say, taking another bite.

"Hiroki? Hiroki, come down and have some cookies!" Mrs. Ishiyama calls up the stairs. I run up to check again while Yumi and her mom check downstairs. I look through each of the individual rooms, but he's not in there. I open the door and look around his room. It looks like the room of a normal ten year old boy. Posters on the walls, a game console attached to a small TV on a table. Except the Japanese style bed, I looks like my room did nearly six years ago. Looking at his bed, I spot a piece of paper neatly folded in half. I pick it up, it's a note from Hiroki. As I read the note, horror dawns on me. I quickly run down the stairs to find Yumi and her mom sitting at the table talking.

"He wasn't anywhere I checked." Yumi says.

"Me neither. He must have snuck off to a friends house." Mrs. Ishiyama says.

"No, he didn't. I found this on his bed." I hand her the note, and Yumi reads over her shoulder. I see their eyes widen and the note falls from her hands. The note flutters down and lands softly on the table.

"How… how could he? How could he do it?" She whispers.

"He'll find a way. Unfortunately, that means we have to find him and stop him. Yumi, let's go. Mrs. Ishiyama, please stay here, I have a feeling you'll only make it worse." I say and Yumi stands up. We run out the door and towards the park. Mrs. Ishiyama just sat there, not looking at the horrible note which read:

Dear Mom and Yumi (and I'm sure Ulrich will get dragged into this by Yumi),

I'm sorry. Ever since Dad left, I can't live with myself.

I feel alone, left out. Nothing brings me happiness.

I've decided the best way to end this will be to end my life.

Please don't try and stop me, I want to be left alone.

My body will be in the woods, please give it a proper funeral.

If you see Dad, tell him I hate him for leaving.

I left this note because I can't bear to say goodbye.

So I'm saying it here:

Goodbye, I love you very much.

Hiroki

* * *

**Well, I can't wait to see how many flames i'm gonna get on that one. Tell me what you think about this, it's just an idea i'm trying out. Next chapter, I will fully explain Hiroki and his reasons, trust me. I hope some of you stay with me on this, pretty much the rest of the book is going to be pretty sad and dark. Next story will be a little lighter with a little more romance. Don't kill me for the pairing that's coming up. Oh crap, I'm basically telling you the rest of the story! I"m stopping now before I say something I regret, and I will leave you with some more stupid, mindless, weird and random quotes. (Warning: If you have a habit of taking things too literally, don't read the quotes. They tend to make no sense).**

**"This quote is every bit as ingenious and smart as the author himself." -me**

**The answer to the unknown question is now officially FISH. -me**

**Politics. Polymany; ticslittle blood seeking creatures. -someone smarter than me  
**

**The truth never hurt anybody, unless it's in the form of a rock. -my friend**

**The only way to conquer your fear of drowning is to become a fish. -me**

**I want to die like my grandpa, peacefully in his sleep. Not screaming in the backseat like the others.**

**Last night I was laying in bed looking at the stars... then I wondered: "Where the hell is my ceiling?" **


	29. Suicide

**I have about three minutes to update this before I get kicked off the computer. Feel lucky that I decide to use my last couple minutes to do this**

* * *

(Ulrich P.O.V.) 

Yumi and I dashed out of the house, headed for the forest.

"Yumi, if you find him, don't try to make him angry or upset. It might provoke him to do something irrational." She nods and we head out on separate paths looking for him. After ten minutes of fruitless searching, I hear someone yelling on the path next to mine. I dash through the trees in time to see Hiroki run off into the forest, with Yumi standing there shocked and looking like she's about to cry.

"Yumi, are you okay?" I walk slowly toward her, she didn't seem to hear me. I notice her legs buckle underneath her and catch her just before she hits the ground.

"Yumi!" She's crying uncontrollably. She wraps her arms around my neck and hugs me tight. I walk her over to the side and set her down on the grass.

"Yumi, what did he say to you?" I look her sternly in the eyes.

"He said I was one of the reasons he wanted to die. He-he said I was being a bitch…." She cries some more.

"Yumi, I would love to sit here and comfort you, but your brother is contemplating suicide. I need to go and help him now." She nods.

"Go." I stand up and run off following the trail Hiroki took. I run for about five minutes until I hear crying. I walk up and look toward the source of the sound. It's Hiroki, he's leaning up against a tree. Tears are rolling down his face, he looks ashamed that they are.

"Hiroki?" He looks up at me and feverishly wipes his eyes.

"Ulrich? I knew Yumi would drag you into this somehow."

"Yumi didn't drag me into this. I came because I wanted to."

"Whatever. I don't want to talk to you either, so just go away."

"Hiroki, I'm not going to stop you."

"What?"

"I'm not going to stop you from committing suicide."

"And why not?" I sit down next to him and he scoots away.

"I want you to realize and stop for yourself. First, can you tell me why you want to die?"

"No."

"Can you tell me anything?"

"No." Hiroki is being very stubborn, but I'm being persistent. As long as I don't feel like a threat to him, he shouldn't try to do anything drastic.

"If I were to ask you a question, could you answer me truthfully?"

"That depends on the question."

"Okay then… let's start of with something simple. How are you going to kill yourself?" He looks at me for a second then nods his head slightly. He pulls a small pocketknife out of his pocket and shows it to me.

"I got this from a friend. Mom doesn't know I have it."

"What were you going to do with it?"

"I was going to stab myself."

"Okay, here's another question. Why did you call your sister a bitch?"

"Because she was neglecting me. She was spending more and more time with her friends, and none with me…." Tears start falling again. He wipes them away.

"Are you ashamed of your tears?"

"Real men don't cry."

"Why not?"

"Because they're tough."

"And tough men aren't afraid of anything?"

"No."

"Then they wouldn't be afraid to show their tears. It may seem like real men don't cry, but in fact they do. Real men aren't afraid to show their tears."

"I guess that makes sense."

_Simple logic is working…_

"Do you know what your sister is doing right now?"

"Probably celebrating that I'm going to kill myself."

"She is back there crying. Because of you." Hiroki's eyes widen, then narrow.

"Just because I hurt her pride and called her a bitch."

"She was on the verge of tears when she first read your note. Do you know what your mother is doing right now?"

"No."

"I don't know either, but I'll bet that she is sitting at the kitchen table where we left her, crying."

"Why would she be crying?"

"Because she already lost her husband. Now she thinks she's going to lose her only son too."

"Really?"

"Yes. So by deciding to be selfish and end your own life because you're fed up with it, you made your sister and mother cry."

"I'm not selfish…."

"Really? Because it's pretty selfish to not want to make your mom and sister happy. To stop living because you can't take it."

"I… guess… you're right…."

"See? If you had thought it through, you wouldn't have ever even considered doing this."

"Can I ask you a question?" I stare at him in amazement.

"Sure, fire away."

"Why did you come? Why not Yumi?"

"Yumi can't take it. She lost her dad, now she thinks she's going to lose you as well. She couldn't even walk, so I sat her down on the grass. Let's go talk to her."

"No. I don't want to talk to Yumi." He puts on a stern face. "I have another question."

"Okay, go ahead."

"Have you ever cried?" I'm taken aback, but after a moment, I respond.

"Yes, I have."  
"What about?"

"You're going to think this is really stupid, but when you get into high school, you'll understand. I have loved Yumi for a long time. But I didn't think she loved me back. When I saw her hanging out with William more and more, I went to my room and cried." I think I surprised Hiroki with that. I think he might have looked up to me as a hero, and it surprised him to know that his hero is just as vulnerable as he is.

"Hiroki, why do you want to kill yourself?" He looks at me and sighs.

"Because when my dad left, I was the only guy. I was the man of the house. I'm only ten so I can't do very much. So I feel like I'm useless, just a burden."

"Hiroki, no matter what anyone says, no matter what anyone does, you are not a burden. You are a member of your family, and they love you."

"No… I'm just a pathetic little weakling. I'm useless, I don't even deserve to live." Hiroki flips open the blade and puts it to his throat. "I'm sorry Ulrich, this is the only way." I grab his arm.

"Hiroki, please. I'm asking you to stop because I care about you. Don't do this."

"Give me one reason why not."

"Do you hate your father now?"

"Yes, I hate him. He left me and my family."

"And what would you be doing if you died?"

"I don't care, I would be dead."

"You would be leaving your family." His eyes widen as he makes the connection. "You become like your father, you would become that which you hate." The knife falls limp from his hand and he hugs me, tears rolling unrestrained down his cheeks. I grab the knife and put it away in my pocket.

"I'm so stupid."

"You are not stupid. Just wait until you become a teenager and your hormones kick in. You think you make stupid choices now, just wait."

"Would I be like Yumi? Obsessed with some girl that I hang out with?" I laugh.

"You just might." He laughs and we stand up. He's not steady on his feet, so I help him a little along the way, until we reach Yumi. Yumi is sitting down looking at her hands, which are stained red.

"Yumi?" Yumi looks up at me, tears rolling down her cheeks too. Lying down in the grass in front of her is a knife, covered with red just like her hands.

"Yumi!" I run to her and kneel down. "Yumi, what are you doing?" She pulls her arms away from me, but I grab them and look at them. They have fresh bleeding cuts circling her wrists and hands.

"U-Ulrich, I'm so s-sorry." She sobs. "I couldn't help myself… it j-just seemed like the right thing to d-do!"

"Yumi, look at me." She looks up into my eyes. "It is never, I mean never, the right thing to hurt yourself. Do you understand me?" She nods and cries in my chest again.

"Yumi? Yumi… I'm sorry." Hiroki says. Yumi doesn't say anything, but nods and waves for him to give her a hug, which they do.

"Come on, let's go back to your house." I say. I give them both a hand up and we walk back to the Ishiyama residence. Seeing as Yumi was bleeding, I rip off the sleeves of my shirt and wrap them around her arms. When we arrive I'm exhausted, so I go and sit down on the couch while everyone else is talking and mostly crying. I didn't think Mrs. Ishiyama would ever let go of Hiroki or Yumi. Yumi notices I'm on the couch and sits by me.

"Hey beautiful." I say and put my arm around her.

"Hi handsome." She lays her head on my shoulder.

"Come on Yumi, let's go take care of your arms." I lead her to the bathroom and help her wash off all the blood. Getting some real bandages, I put them on carefully.

"Wow Ulrich, you're pretty good at this stuff." She says as we walk back to the living room.

"I've had lots of practice because I've had lots of injuries." I say and sit down. She snuggles in close to me. "Yumi, please promise me you will never do that again."

"I promise." She lays her head on my shoulder and I put my arm around her waist. As we sit there, I can feel my eyelids start to droop, and it's hard to stay awake. Before I know it, I'm fast asleep on Yumi's couch.

* * *

I wake up in the morning to the smell of pancakes. I don't open my eyes, I just savor the sweet smell.

Mmm, pancakes… the school hasn't served pancakes in a while, I'd better go and get some.

Then I realize something.

_I couldn't smell the pancakes if I was at school!_

My eyes fly open, and I'm not where I'm supposed to be. I'm at Yumi's house, in her living room. I look to the side and see Yumi sitting next to me and smiling.

"Good morning sleepy. Did you sleep okay?" I stand up, a blanket falls off of me.

_I was underneath a blanket sleeping next to Yumi?_

I back away from the couch and rub the sleep from my eyes.

"What am I doing here?"

"You fell asleep last night and I didn't want to wake you up. So my mom grabbed a blanket and we slept on the couch together."

"Um, isn't that kind of a bad thing? I mean, we just slept together!" Yumi just laughs.

"Are you saying you don't want to sleep with me?"

"No! Uh, I mean… um yah, but uh…." Yumi starts laughing again.

"You're cute when you stutter like that." She walks up to me and kisses me. Immediately, I feel my thoughts clear. Everything is right in the world of Ulrich Stern once again.

"You know, you didn't have to stay with me. You could have slept in your bed, it would have been more comfortable." I say, but Yumi just laughs.

"I tried, but you had me in a death grip." Yumi grabs me by the hand and leads me into the kitchen where Mrs. Ishiyama is, of course, making pancakes.

"Good morning sleepy. Have a seat, they'll be ready in a minute." She says pointing at the table.

"Thanks Mrs. Ishiyama." She turns around and looks at me sternly.

"I don't want to hear anymore of that. After what you did last night, I want you to call me Mom. I fully consider you to be a part of the family now, even if it's not by blood." I smile sheepishly.

"Okay then…."

"Besides, being called Mrs. Ishiyama makes me feel old." She grabs a plate of pancakes and puts them on the table. "Eat up."

"Thanks." I start eating, they are delicious. After a minute, Hiroki walks in, rubbing his eyes.

"Mmm, smells good." He sits down and starts eating. Breakfast is great, we talk and laugh together. At 7:00, Yumi and I get ready for school, and by 7:30, we are ready to leave.

"Here Ulrich. If the principal asks where you were, just give him this." Mrs. Ishiyama hands me a folded note. I open it and it reads:

Please excuse Ulrich for being absent.

He was helping with family business.

S. Ishiyama

"Thanks Mrs.- I mean Mom." I smile.

_I am never going to get used to calling her Mom…._

"It's no problem. Now get off to school before you're late." She gives us a hug and waves us out the door. Yumi and I walk off to school together, hand in hand. We enter the school and walk over to the usual bench, where everyone is sitting. Well, everyone except Macas and Jeremie.

"Hey guys, how's Macas doing?" I say as we walk up. Odd gives me a questioning look, something like 'where were you?' but I shrug it off.

_I'll tell him later, now it's not important._

"He's the same as yesterday. Except XANA's symbol has appeared on his chest, which is making Dorothy totally wig out. She's thinking about transferring him to the hospital." Odd says.

"Odd, did you just say transferring correctly in a sentence?" Yumi asks.

"Uh, yah. I think I did." He replies.

"You should do it more often. It makes you sound smarter." Odd gives us a signature grin.

"Come on, let's get to class." Aelita says. Odd stands up and gives her a hand up too. We walk to our classes, I give Yumi a quick kiss goodbye. Odd and I head for first period together with Aelita behind us.

"Okay Ulrich, spill it. What happened when you took Yumi home last night?" Aelita says.

"What are you talking about?" I say innocently.

"Oh you know. Just the fact that you never came back, your sleeves are torn, and Yumi has bandages on her arms." Odd says.

"Oh. That."

"So?" Odd sounds impatient.

"Okay, I hung out at Yumi's house for a while. Then we went looking for Hiroki because he went missing. And I uh, I found a note on his bed."

"What did it say?" I sigh.

"He wanted to kill himself." Odd goes bug-eyed, Aelita gasps.

"Why?" They ask at the same time.

"His dad left, he felt he had too much responsibility he wasn't living up to as the only male in the house."

"So what did you do?"

"Yumi and I ran off into the woods after him. We split up and Yumi found him first. Hiroki said some harsh things and ran off again. After comforting Yumi, I ran off after Hiroki."

"Keep going!"

"I found him and managed to talk some sense into him. After that, we went home." I decided to leave out the part about Yumi hurting herself.

"So Yumi just magically got hurt?"

"What do you mean?"

"She had bandages on."

"Oh, that." I sigh. "After I talked to Hiroki, we walked back to Yumi. She was in shock, she started cutting herself with a knife." Neither Odd nor Aelita says anything, we just walk in silence.

"Please don't say anything to her, she might go into emotional breakdown." They nod. Odd is the first to break the silence.

"So, your shirt?"

"Oh, that's nothing. I just used my shirt to bandage up Yumi before we got back. Then we put some real bandages on."

"So, why didn't you come back last night after that?" Aelita asks.

"Well, I uh…." I smile. "I slept with Yumi." Odd does a triple take, but Aelita doesn't seem to understand.

"You did WHAT?" Odd yells for the whole school to hear. I just laugh.

"No Odd, it's not what you think. I was holding Yumi on the couch and I fell asleep. Nothing happened."

"Odd, what's so bad about sleeping next to Yumi? Is it against the law?" Aelita asks.

"Uh… um, no, not exactly… I'll tell you later, okay?" Odd is blushing.

"Oh, okay."

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**R&R please! I will update tomorrow if I get five or more! I promise!  
**


	30. Solution and Problem

**Hey guys, sorry about the rushed chappy last time. My parents kick my off the computer around 9:00 so I had to hurry. I've been sick these last couple of days, so I got to stay home from school. I used that chance to write, I have the next couple chapters written. So the more people review, the sooner I will post them. It's all up to you! Happy reading!**

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(Ulrich P.O.V.) 

We go through first period normally, and second period too. In third period, I found out I failed another math test, bringing my grade down to a 'D'. At lunchtime, we all grab something really quick to eat, and then rush over to the infirmary. Dorothy sees us coming and stops us just outside.

"No, I'm afraid you still can't come in. For all we know, it could be contagious. If his condition doesn't improve by the time school is over, he'll have to be transferred to the hospital. This could be serious."

"Can we just look at him?" Yumi pleads.

"No, I'm afraid not. But you can do one thing…."

"What's that?"

"Pray." Without another word, she walks back inside and locks the door.

"Okay, this is serious. If Macas is transferred to a hospital, I don't know what will happen. We may never get the chance to help him get free of XANA's virus." I say. They all nod in agreement.

"Okay, what do you say we-." Odd is cut off by Mr. Delmas walking up behind us.

"Hello students. How is Mr. Keloly?"

"Uh, not good sir. He might have to be transferred to the hospital."

"Oh, that's too bad. Well, I guess we can't have a trial for a sick student, can we?"

"Uh, no sir."

"Well, I've postponed his trial indefinitely. For Mr. Della-Robbia, that means until he's better." He says.

"Oh, okay. But before Jeremie left, he found something in that CD that I thought you might want to see." I say quickly.

_Maybe we won't have to have a trial after all…._

"Oh, really? What's that?"

"The security camera was tampered with. A movie was laid overtop that shows that Macas didn't really beat up Yumi." Mr. Delmas' eyebrows shoot up into his hair.

"Oh really now?"

"Yes sir."

"Well, right now you need to get to class. After school, come by my office and show me."

"Yes sir." I nod to the others, and we walk off as Mr. Delmas walks into the infirmary.

"Guys, we need to get to the factory." I say.

"Okay, let's go." Odd says.

"No. If anyone else missed class, we could get in trouble. I need Aelita to come with me, but everyone needs to go to class." Odd nods in agreement and walks off. Yumi looks disapproving.

"Yumi, please, go to class. It will help get your mind off what has happened the last couple days." She reluctantly nods. I kiss her and she runs off to her last period of the day.

"Okay Aelita, let's go." We run off towards the park, watching for Jim or other teachers. When we enter the tunnel, Aelita stops and looks at me.

"Ulrich, why did you need me to come?"

"What, you think I can operate the supercomputer? After what I did with Jeremie's computer yesterday? Come on, I barely knew how to plug it in!" She laughs and we go down the tunnel.

"But then, why did you come?" She asks as we cross the bridge.

"With XANA out and about, there's no way any of us can go anywhere by ourselves." We enter the elevator and go down to the control room. Aelita sits in the chair and types something.

"Woah." She says.

"What?" I look over her shoulder.

"Watch this." She runs the movie from the CD. It looks just like before.

"So?"

"Now watch this." She runs the movie after the extraction. It shows Yumi come onscreen, and then a blank white spot. It's as if someone just erased only William from the picture. You can tell it's a human, but not who it is.

"I think XANA goofed. When we extracted the overlay, it removed everything underneath it as well!" It shows me come on screen and kick the white personage. The blank area falls to the ground and doesn't move, just like William did.

"Yes!" Aelita burns the movie onto an extra CD and puts both into separate cases. I put them both in my pocket, but stop Aelita from getting up.

"Wait. We have some more time. Do you know if you can do something about Macas?"

"I can't do anything, but Jeremie can."

"Well, Jeremie isn't exactly available to us now."

"No… but his old computer is…." My eyes widen.

"I'll be back in about ten minutes." I say. I run out of the factory and back to the school. I run into Jeremie's room and grab his old computer with his miscellaneous attachments. As I walk back out, I get confronted by Sissi.

"Why hello Ulrich dear. What could you possibly be doing out of class during fifth period?"

"Not now Sissi. Wait, why are you out of class?"

"I didn't feel good." She said it in such a way that anyone could tell she was lying.

"Now get out of my way, I have things to do."

"Oh, I don't think so. Not unless you want even more trouble for you and your friends." I stop in my tracks.

"What?"

"Oh, this stuff was easy. Macas' trial was easy to set up, William has very good connections."

"WILLIAM?"

"Yah. I think he wants Yumi for himself, so he wants me to break you two up. And unless you do, you and your friends are going to find it hard to stay out of trouble."

"There's no fucking way…."

"Oooh, language Ulrich. I'll give you a couple days to think about it…." Without another word, she walks off. I just stand there in a stupor.

_XANA must have possessed William! He needed someone with good contacts here, so he picked Sissi! There's no telling what could happen!_

After a minute, I realize what I was doing. I run off again to the factory. Once there, I set up Jeremie's computer (with more help from Aelita).

"Aelita, something is wrong."

"What's that?" She asks absent-mindedly. She's searching through Jeremie's old files for something.

"Sissi is the cause of all this." Aelita instantly perks up.

"What?"

"She just told me that she was working with William to set up Macas' trial. And unless I dump Yumi, it's only going to get worse…." I sit down on the floor with my head in my hands.

"Don't worry Ulrich, we'll find something. There's no way she can split you two up." Aelita smiles and returns to Jeremie's computer. All of the sudden, I remember something. Something Jeremie said when he broke free of XANA….

"Aelita, look for something called the Destroyer." She looks at me weird.

"What for?"

"Just do it." She types a couple buttons and brings it up. I look over her shoulder at the description. It's a program designed to destroy Lyoko profiles in case of an emergency.

"Why did you want me to find that?" I feel the blood rush out of my face as I realize what Jeremie was talking about.

"When Jeremie broke free of XANA's control, he said something else. He said when you found the Destroyer, to use it on him. He'd rather die than be under XANA's control." Aelita's eyes tear up, she start crying uncontrollably.

"No Ulrich, we can't!" She hugs me and cries into my shoulder for a while.

"Don't worry Aelita. We're not going to use it. We'll find some other way to bring him back." Aelita sits up and wipes her eyes.

"I'm sorry Ulrich, I just…."

"Don't worry about it. You love him, don't you?" She blushes.

"Yes. At least, I think I do…." I make a quick connection. Odd. Odd has been doing so much for Aelita lately… in fact, I think Odd might have a crush on her!

"Do you have doubts?"

"Yes… I've been virtual for as long as I can remember… I'm not sure I know what love feels like. Can you describe it to me?" Now it's my turn to blush.

"Well, no. Not really. Trying to describe love… detracts from the purity of it. You can't describe love, you have to feel it and understand it for yourself."

_Odd has a crush on Aelita, but Aelita is in love with Jeremie… this is one messed up love triangle!_

"Thank you Ulrich." She wipes her eyes again and turns back to the computer. After a couple of minutes, she starts typing furiously.

"What is it?"

"I think I may have found something!" She pulls up and information window. The description for the program is it brutally removes a virus. Notes from Jeremie say that he refuses to use it on Aelita because it could destroy her.

"Could this work?"

"It might. But it would be very risky."

"What's the problem?"

"It gets rid of the virus by destroying all infected files. If it gets rid of too many files in the process, it would delete the person. Plus, to activate it we would have to get Macas into a scanner."

"That means we would have to get him out before Dorothy takes him to the hospital!"

(Odd P.O.V.)

I'm extremely bored in science class. Last period of the day is bad enough, but with Ulrich, Jeremie, Aelita and Macas gone, it's driving me insane. I find myself continually looking at the clock, willing it to go faster. As soon as the bell rings, I dash out of the classroom and call Ulrich.

"Odd, head to the infirmary! Don't talk to Dorothy or anything, just wait for me there!" That's all Ulrich says before he hangs up. I run for the infirmary and stop outside. I'm not there for more than 30 seconds before Ulrich shows up. He leans over, trying to catch his breath.

"Odd… we need… to get Macas to the factory."

"What? Why?"

"We found a way to hopefully get rid of the virus. We just need to take him to the factory and put him in the scanners before he gets moved to the hospital. That will be any minute!"

"Great, but how are we going to get past Dorothy?"

"I'll take care of her, just get in and out as soon as she's gone!" He pushes me out of sight and knocks on the door.

"Dorothy! Aelita got hurt! I think she broke her leg!" He says. I stand in shock for a second before I realize it's just a cover story. Ulrich runs past me with Dorothy right behind him. I peek around the corner, no one is by the infirmary. I rush inside to see Macas lying on the bed. He looks deathly pale and he has XANA's red eye on his chest. I carefully pick him up and sling him over my shoulders. I run outside as quickly as possible and head towards the park. Macas starts coughing, so I stop and lie him on the ground. He keeps coughing, and starts coughing up blood. After a minute, he stops and I pick him up again.

"Don't worry buddy, we found something to help you." I enter the sewers. Deciding there's no other way, I just run with him over my shoulder. It's a long run, and I'm beginning to tire. I get to the bridge, and my legs begin to give out. I stop for a second to steady myself, then go on again. Just before I reach the balcony, my right leg buckles. I fall to the ground and Macas hits hard. He rolls slightly, and reaches the edge. I quickly grab him before he falls and pull him back. At that moment, Ulrich and Aelita show up.

"Hey Odd, careful!" He helps pull Macas back away from the edge.

"Well, he's not exactly a feather, now is he?" I say. Ulrich gives me a hand up. Aelita and Ulrich grab Macas and take him down the stairs, while I take the rope and get ready. I walk into the control room and realize I have no clue how to get ready. So I go down to the scanner room and wait. After a couple of minutes, Ulrich walks out of the elevator with Macas in tow. Macas looks worse and worse, his skin is beginning to lose it's pigment.

"Help me get him into the scanners." I grab an arm and we sit Macas down in the scanners. Ulrich goes up to the control room while I wait here.

"Okay Odd, I'm going to explain the situation to you." Aelita's voice says over the speakers.

"Okay, but don't expect me to understand half of it."

"Macas' virtual form was infected with a virus, it corrupted about half of his files before he was de-virtualized. This new program should delete all the infected files, then re-create them as they were before they were infected. But if it has to delete more than half the files, then Macas himself will be deleted and lost forever."

"Okay. Go ahead with it. Tell me if anything's wrong."

"Okay." The scanner door closes, with Macas inside. I hear the scanner warm up, and Aelita begins the process. After about five minutes, I hear her gasp.

"Aelita! What's wrong?"

"I-I made an error in calculations. He-he might not make it…."

"No!"

"We'll find out in a couple minutes." I pace the floor, I feel like an expectant father. After a couple minutes, I hear crying over the speaker.

"Aelita! What's happening!"

"It's deleting too many files. Macas is going to be lost…" Ulrich's voice says. Aelita must have been crying too much to answer. A ridiculous thought pops into my head, but I always go with my ridiculous thoughts.

"Ulrich! I'm getting into a scanner! Transfer some of my good files to Macas then use the program to re-create me!"

"Odd, I don't know if that will work!" Aelita says. She must have literally forced Ulrich out of the chair.

"Just do it! We can't lose Macas, not if the prophecy is true!" I step into the scanner. The doors close behind me.

"Aelita, if this doesn't work, I want you to know that I think I love you." I hear her gasp, but say nothing more. The scanner scans me in, but doesn't virtualize me to Lyoko. I feel like I'm stuck in the virtualization process, just before I would have appeared. I can still hear Aelita though. I open my eyes and see nothing but white. Except for Macas, he's standing limply next to me in his Lyoko outfit. I try to move, but I can't. I can see myself, I'm also in Lyokian(is that a word?) form. A purple aura surrounds me and a red aura surrounds Macas. They grow bigger until they are touching. My purple energy transforms into red energy which gets absorbed by Macas' aura.

"Success!" I hear Aelita say. Macas vanishes into the white, but I stay.

"Oh no!" Aelita says. She starts yelling something, but it fades out until I can't hear anything.

_Oh shit….

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_

**Yah, I know. It's a cliffy. But I had to stop here, this chapter was getting pretty long. Just wait, the next chapter is HUGE. I mean massive, like 3,000 words. I may shorten it... depending on reviews... and now, I leave you with a quote:**

**290. I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. For those who like coutry musc, denigrate neans to 'put down.'**

**No offense to anyone who does like country music. I think this is kind of funny, because I listen to country sometimes. Don't take it personally. Please. I would rather not be chased by an angry mob. Review please!**_  
_


	31. Solution?

**Wow, I'm sorry for not updating. I've had this chapter ready for a while, but I didn't realize that it's been over two weeks since I last posted. I have too many things going on at once. I left you at a cliffy last time, so i'm going to hurry up and get on with the story. This one is dedicated to anyone who has this story on their alert list! That's like... 16 people. Thanks to you!**

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(Ulrich P.O.V.) 

"Aelita, what's going on?" I ask. A red exclamation mark appeared on the screen, flashing violently.

"Oh no!" She stares at the screen for a couple minutes. "Odd is stuck!"

"What?" I ask as if I don't believe it.

"There was some kind of error during rematerialization, Odd is stuck in between Lyoko and Earth, kind of like Jeremie that one time!"

"Can we do the same thing as last time?"

"No, it's not the same." I remember Macas and quickly go downstairs to see what happened. I find him lying on the floor of the scanner unconscious. He looks normal again, which is a relief.

"Aelita, Macas made it back alright. It looks like the program worked!" I yell and carry Macas back upstairs. I set him on the floor against the holomap and go over to Aelita. She's sobbing uncontrollably in the chair.

"Aelita!" She turns to me and wraps her arms around me. "Don't worry, we'll get him back."

"N-no. We can't. This is out of our control, only X-XANA can access the files needed to save him." I just stare blankly at a wall.

_Odd…_.

"We have to do something, we can't just leave him there!" Aelita says when I don't respond.

"We will do something." Macas says quietly from the floor.

"Macas!" Aelita runs over and hugs him.

"Hey Aelita." He says hoarsely.

"But… what can we do?" I ask.

"I-I don't know. But we'll figure out something. There's no way we can let Odd slip away. Not after what he did for me."

"How do you know what he did for you?" Aelita asks.

"I was conscious the entire time. XANA prevented me from moving at all or speaking." At that time, Yumi happens to walk in.

"How's it going?" She asks, then she sees Macas. "Macas!" She runs over and hugs him just like Aelita had. I offer my hand, which he accepts and stands up. He's kind of wobbly, but he can still stand.

"What happened?" Yumi looks at me. She notices that Aelita looked like she had been crying. After a moment, I realize I was too. The tears had come with out me even noticing them.

"Odd is gone…." I say. Yumi looks bewildered.

"W-what? He's gone? How could he be g-gone?"

"He sacrificed himself to save Macas." She looks surprised and hurt at this.

"Wait a minute… start at the beginning." I tell her the whole story. When I get to the part about Odd, she begins to cry too.

"No… he can't be gone!" She hugs me and I hug her back. I rub her back as she cries into my shoulder.

"Don't worry Yumi. We will find a way to bring Odd back." Macas says. He hobbles over to the computer and sits down. He looks at the computer and his face twists with anger. "Shit."

"What?"

"XANA has programmed a count down. Unless we can find a way to get Odd back within 7 hours, he's gone. Deleted forever." Everyone's eyes widen.

"I'm going to find a way to fix this. I promise." He says. He stands up and tries to walk over, but he stumbles. I catch him in time.

"You can't help us right now. Right now we need to get you to the infirmary so that Dorothy can check you out." I help half-carry Macas out of the factory and we head for the school. We enter the school and head for the infirmary. We reach it and open the door when I remember something.

_Macas was supposed to be sick, how do we explain how he ended up with us?_

Unfortunately, Dorothy walks out of her office and looks at us.

"What happened? Mr. Stern, I came back and Mr. Keloly was not in his bed! Now you come back with him? Tell me what happened!"

"Uh…" I say. I have no clue what to say to get out of this. Macas stands up straight, he seems to have recovered a little bit.

"I think it was my fault." He says.

"Your fault? How could it be your fault?"

"I woke up and I think I was delirious. I can remember walking out of here and trying to get away. I think I stumbled into the woods. After that, I collapsed. Ulrich found me and brought me back here." Dorothy takes him and sits him down on the bed.

"You look better." She says. "How do you feel?"

"Just tired." She spends a couple minutes checking him out.

"Well, there are no signs that you're still sick anymore… so I guess you can leave. If you feel nauseous or pain at all, come back here. I'm letting you take next week of school off to recover."

"Thank you." He stands up and walks with me outside.

"How do you feel?"

"Better."

"That was a great cover up story."

"Thanks. It just popped into my head on the way here."

"Can you run?"

"I think so."

"Then let's go. We need to find out some way to get Odd back." We run, but at a fairly decent pace. Macas isn't going very fast, but I'm not going to rush him. We eventually get back to the factory to see Yumi and Aelita looking at the computer.

"What's going on?"

"Odd is slowly being deleted…." Aelita says. Both of the girl's eyes are red and puffy, showing that they have been crying.

"Don't worry Aelita. I'll find a way to get him back." Macas says. He gently lifts Aelita out of the chair and she hugs me. Macas sits down and closes his eyes.

"Macas, what are you doing?" Yumi asks.

"I'm thinking." He replies without opening his eyes. After a minute, he opens his eyes.

"I might have one idea." I starts to type steadily. I sit down with Aelita and Yumi on the floor by the wall and we comfort each other. I don't know how long we were sitting there, but it felt like an eternity. Eventually Yumi and Aelita drift off to sleep, but I can't. I keep thinking about how my best friend is trapped and I can't do anything about it. After about a long time, I hear Macas sigh.

"What's up?" He doesn't respond. I carefully extract myself from in between the sleeping girls and walk over to him. He's staring at the keyboard. I look at the screen, it says:

**INPUT TRANS-MATERIALIZATION CODE:**

I look back at him and notice a small drop of liquid fall on the keyboard. Macas is silently crying. I put my hand gently on his shoulder.

"Hey, what's that?" He sits up and wipes his eyes.

"That's just it, I don't know. This trans-materialization code is something I don't have. Only XANA has access to that file."

"Oh great. Is there anything else you can think of?" I ask. He shakes his head.

"This was my only hope. I'm not very smart when it comes to this. Not like Jeremie." I sigh. If Macas can't do anything, we're basically helpless. Next to Jeremie, he's the best we have. I look at the clock, it's nearly 7:00.

"I'm going to go take the girls for dinner. Do you want to come?" He thinks for a second, then nods.

"Maybe something to eat will help clear my mind." We wake up the girls gently and head back for dinner. I also call Mrs. Ishiyama and tell her Yumi is going to eat with us today. Dinnertime is silent, no one feels like talking. Then the worst thing I need right now comes over.

"Hello Ulrich dear, have you come to your senses and accepted my offer?" Sissi says.

"Sissi, this is the absolute WORST possible time for you to talk to me. So go away before I'm forced to hit you." I growl. She doesn't seem offended at all.

"This is your last chance to reconsider Ulrich. Break up with Yumi now, or face the consequences."

"Sissi, you vile little-." Macas starts to say, but I interrupt him.

"Sissi, I've chosen to answer you in this way. Please pay attention." I lean over and kiss Yumi. "In case you didn't understand, I'll make it even more simple. Fuck off." I say. Sissi looks ready to kill, but she just walks away.

"Macas, Sissi is the one who set up your trial. She is working with XANA, through William. We have to be careful around anyone now, we don't know who could be possessed." Macas just looks angry. After dinner, we go back to the factory. We all prepare ourselves for the worst, that Odd is gone, that something happened. In just an hour, XANA's countdown will have expired. Odd will be gone. We get back inside the control room and Macas sits down in the chair.

"What the…." He looks at the screen. It has a window on it, a message from someone.

**TRANS-MATERIALIZATION CODE FOR ODD:**

**1203-0409-0315-0201**

"Is that it?" I ask incredulously.

"It seems to be… but… how did we get it?" Macas asks.

"Jeremie…." Aelita says softly. She says it again louder. "Jeremie."

"But, how?" I ask.

"Jeremie must have broken free long enough to access XANA's files and send us this." She says. She smiles really big and hugs me. I look at Yumi, she has a grim expression on her face, I think she's thinking what I am…

"Macas, I don't think we should use that." I say. Aelita looks at me.

"Why not? Jeremie sent it to us!"

"Booby-trapped data." Yumi says.

"He's done it before." I say.

"Well, I think there's only one way to settle this." Macas says. "We take a vote."

"I vote for." Aelita says immediately.

"I vote against." Yumi says. "I'm only doing it because I think it would hurt more than help."

"I vote for." Macas says. "I have a feeling about this."

"I vote against." I say. "And that makes it a tie. But this time, we only really have four people to vote with."

"What about Odd?" Aelita says.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think-."

"No, I mean what do you think Odd would vote for?" This took me completely by surprise.

"I guess Odd does get a vote. But we can't contact him…." Macas says. I look at my feet.

"Odd would vote for. I know he would. He would rather die because we screwed up than because we didn't do anything." Everyone nods in approval.

"Than that means we do it. Everyone cross your fingers." Macas says. He enters the code into the box. He hesitates pressing the return key.

"But what if…?" He stutters.

"Do it." I say. He hits the return key. A window pops up, it says PROCESSING…

"Everyone hold your breath and cross your fingers. If you believe in God, now is the time to pray." Macas says. I say a silent prayer.

_Please God, I don't want Odd to die…_.

* * *

**Muahahaha another cliffy! I was going to make this chapter like 3000 words long... but I decided against it. You shouldn't have too much of a good thing. This is actually one of my shorter chapters, only about 1800 words long. If more people review, I could be persuaded to keep my chapters long...hint hint**

**For the OddxAelita pairing... don't get your hopes up if you like it. I could go either way with it. Expect the unexpected.**

**And now, another quote(s):**

**328. Please excuse me, I'm going to have some fun with LIQUID NITROGEN!**

**13. Roses are red, violets are blue, some poems rhyme, and some don't.**

**18. Green means go, red means stop. Yellow means go faster before it turns red.**

**19. Green means you can go. Yellow means slow down. Red means 'I hope you can dodge cars.'**

**21. Seat belts are not as confining as wheel chairs.**

**I hope you liked this chapter R&R on your way out! I have nothing else to do today... so I will probably write up another chapter just for you! You can expect it later today or sometime tomorrow.**

**Review with any ideas you might have for the story, I'll work as much of them in as possible. I take reviews seriously. If you flame me, I will use it to torch my homework. Then I can blame not having it on you! Yay!  
**


	32. Not Sure Who to Love

**Hello again! Sorry about the wait, it's not my fault. For anyone who read my new story a while ago, Dancing, it was forcibly taken down by the administration of Apparently, you're not allowed to post song lyrics on a story. Because of my 'infraction,' I wasn't allowed to post chapters/stories until today. I actually had this ready to go up last Saturday. Sorry to anyone who liked that story, but I don't want to risk putting it back up. I might get in even more trouble.  
**

**I'm sure you're all dying to know what's going to happen to Odd. So I'll get to the point. I have recently been banned from the computer (again) but now I am back on. I have already written out the last 4 chapters of this story, it has a total of 36. So I will only update as much as you people review. So it is totally up to you how soon you get to see the ending. Now that you have all finished reading my pointless babble for too long, I will tell you what happened to Odd!  
**

* * *

(Ulrich P.O.V.) 

**Last time:**

"Than that means we do it. Everyone cross your fingers." Macas says. He enters the code into the box. He hesitates pressing the return key.

"But what if…?" He stutters.

"Do it." I say. He hits the return key. A window pops up, it says PROCESSING…

"Everyone hold your breath and cross your fingers. If you believe in God, now is the time to pray." Macas says. I say a silent prayer.

_Please God, I don't want Odd to die…_.

**Now:**

It pops up with another message: TRANSFER SUCCESSFUL-CHARACTER ON LYOKO.

Macas quickly pulls open the holomap of Lyoko, it shows one player not moving in the desert region.

"Let's go get him." I yell. Yumi, Macas, and I race down to the scanner room and Aelita scans us in. We land in the desert region and take off for the rock that Odd is by.

"Um, we have a problem." Aelita says.

"What's that?"

"Jeremie is next to Odd." I stop dead in my tracks. "Macas I'm giving you the overbike, it's the only one I have time for right now. It materializes in front of him and I take off.

"Woah, there's vehicles here?" I think I hear Macas say before he takes off.

I realize I still have my supersprint. I quickly grab Yumi and put her on my back. I race across the plateau, and quickly spot Odd laying against a rock. Macas is fighting against a strange figure I realize must be Jeremie. I drop Yumi off nearby and go super-supersprint. I'm there in a flash, I take out my sword and slash Jeremie across the arm. He backs away and begins to fire at me instead of Macas. I now know why Macas had such a hard time, he's releasing more lasers than three tarantulas at once. I get hit once and fall back. I race forward and hit him again on the other arm. Realizing he's wounded, he steps back. I lunge forward out of instinct to kill him, but he takes off running. A black board, similar to the overboard appears and he takes off; it's going faster than the overboard could. I sheath my blade.

_Jeremie…_.

I barely even got a good look at him. All I could tell was that he looked like he was wearing body armor with shoulder pads. His eyes were pitch black. I turn around to see Odd on the ground, his eyes are open which shows me he's awake, but he's not saying anything.

"Odd? Odd answer me!" I reach down and prop him up. "Come on Odd, say something."

"S-something…." He smiles.

"Oh thank God your okay."

"What happened?"

"I'll explain later. Don't worry buddy, you'll be okay." Macas and Yumi arrive.

"Odd!" Yumi yells. She reaches down and hugs him. I'm sure he would have hugged back if he had the strength. Macas and I help him stand up, he seems to be somewhat okay.

"Okay Aelita, you can de-virtualize us." Macas says.

"Okay…." She says. I see Odd disappear into wireframe, then Macas and Yumi. "Sorry Ulrich, you'll have to wait for an open scanner."

"That's okay."

"Ulrich? Can I ask you something? Something personal?"

"Of course."

"Do you think I should love Odd instead of Jeremie?" My eyes widen.

"Aelita, that is totally up to you."

"I know… but ever since…."

"Ever since what?"

"Right before Odd went into the scanner, he said he loved me."

_Woah. Wasn't expecting that._

"Aelita, do you love him?"

"I-I don't know."

"I can't tell you who you should love. Even you can't tell you who you should love. No one can control their emotions like that. If you love Odd, tell him. If you don't tell him anyway. He thinks he loves you and wants to know what you think."

"I know. But… I'm scared."

"Scared of what?"

"What Odd will say."

"Don't be. If you don't love him, say so. Odd won't be mad, he'll get over it. Trust me Aelita, you're not the first crush he's had."

"Thank you Ulrich…."

"Anytime Aelita."

"They're all back, I'm bringing you in now." I see myself transform into wireframe and my vision goes a blissful white. I open my eyes to see myself in a scanner, curled up on the floor. I stand up and stumble back over to the elevator. I steady myself against the wall and press the button. I'm usually not so tired, but the super-supersprint really takes the energy out of me. It stops at the control room and everyone else gets in. We ride to the top and I help Macas support Odd, who is unconscious. Aelita helps Macas carry Odd back to our dorm while I take Yumi home.

"Yumi, we have a problem." She looks at me with mild curiosity.

"What's that?"

"Odd has a crush on Aelita." Her eyes widen considerably.

"How do you know that?"

"It's doesn't really matter. But now Aelita is struggling with her feelings for him and Jeremie."

"So… who does she like? Odd or Jeremie?"

"I don't think even she knows. But I would take a guess at Jeremie. I think Odd just presented a new difficulty and she doesn't know how to cope. Before I was devirtualized, she asked me who I thought she should love."

"What did you say?"

"I basically said I don't have an opinion. I said she doesn't have much of a choice, she just has to go with what she feels. But I also don't think that was a good enough answer."

We arrive at her house and go inside. I want to check up on Hiroki really quick.

"Hey Honey, hello Ulrich." Mrs. Ishiyama says.

"Hey Mom." Yumi answers.

"Hi uh, Mom." I say. Mrs. Ishiyama (A/N: I'm going to start referring to her as Mom whenever I'm in Ulrich's pov. I doubt Ulrich's real mom will get into this story. Ever.) smiles at me and I smile back.

"Where's Hiroki? I have something for him." I say.

"He's upstairs in his room playing X-Box." I kiss Yumi on the cheek and run upstairs. I do indeed find Hiroki on the X-Box, playing Halo.

"Hey, how's it goin?" I ask him. He looks at me and smiles.

"Pretty good. Why are you here?" He asks me.

"I was just dropping Yumi off really quick. But I brought something for you."

"Oh cool, what is it?"

"Ah, it's not much. Just a little something I have. I really like it, I hope you will too." He looks at me strangely. I fish around in my pocket and pull it out. I show it to him. It's a small necklace, with a pendant on it. I hand it to him and he looks at it.

"Wow. It's so cool!" It's a small katana, with a silver blade and a dark brown handle. Fairly simple, but still elegant. It reminds me of my very own sword of Lyoko.

"I'm not exactly fond of my dad. He expected more out of me than I could handle. One day I got fed up and ran out of the house. I was wandering around the city and went into a local trinket shop. I saw this and loved it, so I bought it. Whenever my dad made me mad, I would think of this. I used to wear it, but the chain broke. I bought a new one and I'm giving it to you." He looks at me with genuine joy in his face.

"Oh thank you thank you thank you!" He yells and gives me a huge hug. I smile and ruffle his hair.

"No problem. Don't hesitate to ask if you ever need anything, okay? I'll always be here to help."

"Okay. Do you want to play me?" He asks nodding towards the game. I shrug my shoulders and pick up a controller. Unluckily for me, I haven't had much of a chance to play this game. Hiroki completely devastates me three times. He just killed my character again when I hear a clicking sound come from the doorway. I turn over and look to see Mom and Yumi standing there smiling. Yumi happened to have a camera with her.

"Ah, won't this make a great scrapbooking photo?" She says. "Ulrich and Hiroki playing video games."

"Yah, especially because I'm winning." I say and stand up. Hiroki starts laughing.

"I beat you four times!" He says.

"Ah come on. I let you win." I say and everyone laughs.

"Come on, I wanna make it five times!" He says.

"Sorry man, I've got to go back to my room. It's getting late." I say. I give Yumi another quick kiss on the cheek, and hear Hiroki's 'eeeew'.

"I'll see you tomorrow, okay Yumi?"

"Sure." I walk downstairs and outside. A short fifteen minute walk later, the old familiar walls of Kadic Academy come into view. I walk into my dorm to find Odd sleeping soundly. And amazingly, not snoring. He must be really exhausted. I quietly get undressed and crawl into bed.

* * *

**"And God said to me, let Odd live. So I did." I was going to have Odd sacrifice himself for Macas, but he still has a part to play later in the story.**

**Since this story is ending soon, I want to know if you would like to have just a sequal or make it a trilogy. Review and tell me what you think. It will definitely not be any longer than three books, so don't ask for any more. Just say sequal or trilogy.**

**I am so nice, so I am going to give you a sneak preview of the next chapter: Reminiscing.  
**

(Odd P.O.V.) "Uh… Odd? Can I uh, talk to you outside? Please?" Aelita asks me nervously. Ulrich puts his hand on her shoulder and gives her a reassuring look. Aelita nods and walks out the door with me. We walk over to the bench that we usually hang out at. I lean against the tree and Aelita sits down."So, what's on your mind?"  
"What-what you said to me. Before you got into the scanner to save Macas."  
"Oh." I say and kick myself mentally as I remember.  
**Flashback**  
"Just do it! We can't lose Macas, not if the prophecy is true!" I step into the scanner. The doors close behind me.  
"Aelita, if this doesn't work, I want you to know that I think I love you." I hear her gasp, but say nothing more.  
**End Flashback**  
"I've been thinking a lot about what you said, and how… how I feel."  
"Aelita…."**  
I'm not going to reveal what they say just yet. You're going to have to wait for the next chapter like a good fan. R&R please! I want 180 reviews before I will post the next chapter. That's not a lot, so just press that little button down in the corner. Thanks to everyone!  
**


	33. Reminiscing

**Once again, I apologize for my lack of updating. I will try harder, I promise. So, here is another chapter called Reminiscing. Mostly filler, but the action will start up again really soon. Just know this: 3 Chapters left!**

* * *

(Odd P.O.V.)

"Odd…." I hear someone say. "Odd…." I roll over and put the pillow over my head.

"Mmm… go away Ulrich lemme sleep…." I mumble through the pillow.

"Oh thank God you're okay." I hear someone say. This time it registers to me as a female voice. I sit up slowly and rub the sleep out of my eyes. It takes a second for my eyes to adjust to the light, but eventually a girl comes into view, standing in front of me.

"A-Aelita?" I mumble.

"Sorry to burst your bubble Odd, but no." I shake my head and she comes into focus.

"Mmm, hey Yumi. What are you doing here?"

"Well, considering the incident you had yesterday, and the fact that Ulrich didn't answer his cell phone, I think I have every right to come and check on my friends." I look over at Ulrich, who is still sleeping. I look over at the clock and take a second to realize what the numbers are. 2:56.

"Yumi? Why the hell did you wake me up at three in the morning?" She laughs.

"Odd, it's three in the afternoon." Now I'm awake.

"Woah, I slept until three? That has got to be a record…."

"Nah. But I'm surprised Ulrich didn't wake up before now." I grab my pillow and toss it over at him.

"That'll-" I start to say but stop. Yumi caught my pillow in the air. "Hey!" She smiles at me.

"Watch this." She walks over and kneels next to his ear.

"Ulrich… oh Ulrich…." She says in a soft, seductive voice. "Ulrich… I'm so in love…." Ulrich starts mumbling in his sleep. "Oh Ulrich, I'm so in love with… Odd…" He shoots straight out of bed and looks around. I can't tell what is on his face because I'm laughing too hard, and so is Yumi. Ulrich just glares at us while we're laughing. He looks at me, and I put my hands up in defense.

"Hey hey hey! This was all her idea!" I point accusingly at Yumi, who shakes her head.

"Oh no Ulrich, he put me up to it! He threatened to hurt me unless I did it!"

"He did WHAT?" At this point, Yumi can't stand it anymore. She just lies on the floor, laughing.

"Ulrich, you are WAY too gullible." I say between bouts of laughter.

"Oh shut up Odd. You feeling okay?" I beam a big smile.

"Yup! I'm all hunky dory!"

"Seriously Odd."

"Yah, I'm okay. A little shaken up, but okay. What happened?"

"Well, we were going to use a program from Jeremie's old computer to help-"

"Yah, yah. I know what part. What happened after I got stuck?"

"Macas woke up and worked for an hour or so on something that would bring you back. But he was missing something, something that only XANA had." Yumi says.

"So, how did you bring me back?"

"We got a message from someone outside the computer giving Macas the information that he needed. Or, it looked like it. We took a vote on whether or not to use it, and it came up a tie. Two for, two against."

"So how did you decide?"

"What would you have picked Odd?"

"Well, I would rather die because you guys tried and failed, instead of-"

"-you dying because we didn't do anything?" Ulrich finished.

"Yah. Exactly. So, judging by the fact that I'm here, you decided to use it?"

"Yeah."

"Where did it come from?"

"Well, XANA is the only one that could have sent us a message through the supercomputer." Yumi mentions.

"Why would XANA want to save me?"

"I don't think he did it. I think Jeremie broke free and managed to get it to us."

"Well, I hope it was him, and he sent us some good data. I don't really feel like exploding into a billion molecules right now." Ulrich smiles.

"No, I don't think so." I clap my hands and smile.

"Okay, who's up for some grub? I'm starving." Yumi smiles and we go down to the cafeteria. Good thing it stays open later on Saturdays. I grab some food and sit down. Macas and Aelita are there, just hanging out.

"Hey guys, what are you doing here?"

"We figured the first place you would go when you woke up would be food. So we came here." Macas says.

"I am way too predictable."

"Yup. Ulrich, I have to thank you." Ulrich looks surprised, and he manages to stifle a yawn.

"For what?"

"The CD. I took it to Mr. Delmas. Given the circumstances and with Aelita and Yumi's help, I'm off the hook."

"Really?"

"Yup. Aelita explained how the CD got tampered with, Yumi gave her testimony that it wasn't me who hurt her. I think it might also have to do with the fact that Jeremie is gone. He doesn't want to traumatize us further."

"So why are you thanking me instead of them?"

"Cause I've already expressed my thanks more times than I can count." He smiles.

"That's great Macas." I say and start eating. Mmm, food is always better after a near-death experience. Trust me, I know. I've had them a lot of times.

"Uh… Odd? Can I uh, talk to you outside? Please?" Aelita asks me nervously. Ulrich puts his hand on her shoulder and gives her a reassuring look. Aelita nods and walks out the door with me. We walk over to the bench that we usually hang out at. I lean against the tree and Aelita sits down.

"So, what's on your mind?"

"What-what you said to me. Before you got into the scanner to save Macas."

"Oh." I say and kick myself mentally as I remember.

**Flashback**

_"Just do it! We can't lose Macas, not if the prophecy is true!" I step into the scanner. The doors close behind me._

_"Aelita, if this doesn't work, I want you to know that I think I love you." I hear her gasp, but say nothing more._

**End Flashback**

"I've been thinking a lot about what you said, and how… how I feel."

"Aelita…."

"Hold on Odd, I need to say this. I'm sorry if it hurts you, but I don't think I love you." I smile.

"It's okay Aelita. I've been thinking a lot as well. I thought about it the whole time I was stuck. I've never had a crush before. Until now. I'm glad you had the guts to say that first, because I don't love you either." After a moment, I realize that is still kind of harsh.

"I mean, not like that. I love you as a sister, as a best friend. I realized that after I said I loved you, the feeling… it went away. Sort of. I still want to be your friend. Can you forgive my stupid actions and be my friend?" She smiles with pure joy.

"Of course Odd. I just have one question for you."

"What's that?"

"Can you give me a hug without it looking like we're together?" I reach down and pull her into a big bear hug. I swing her around and around as she laughs.

"Is that good?"

"Great." I put my arm around her shoulder in a brotherly way and we walk back into the cafeteria.

"Hey guys." I say, Ulrich looks at me worriedly, and then at my arm which is still around Aelita. I hastily remove it.

"No worries guys, we're not dating." Ulrich lets out a big sigh of relief.

"You guys had me worried. So, why the sudden change of heart?"

"I dunno. I just realized that I didn't love Aelita the way I thought I did."

"And now?"

"Ah, just love between cousins." I laugh.

"You know, if anyone had heard that, there would be some pretty strange rumors going around." Macas says. He looks around, luckily there was no one else in the cafeteria. "Not to take matters away from this, but we have other things to worry about."

"Like?"

"Jeremie." Everyone goes silent, reminiscing.

_Wait a minute, did I just say reminiscing? Dude, I'm using cool words!_

"Hey Macas, not to break the solemn moment, but what does reminiscing mean?" He gives a sigh. I'll bet Kiwi he's thinking 'Odd will be Odd.'

"Reminiscing means to remember things, like to reflect on past events. Why?"

"Cause I just thought of it. And I used it correctly!"

"Odd, you surprise us every day. But sorry for the interruption Macas. Do you have anything in mind?"

"Not a thing. Xana is controlling Jeremie. Jeremie would have to break out of his own free will. I can't control what Xana does, and possessing him ourselves wouldn't do anything. Anyone have any thoughts?"

"You're the genius Macas." Ulrich says. "Well, you and Miss Einstein over here." He nods towards Aelita. Aelita just shrugs.

"I don't have any ideas. We can only hope Jeremie will break out himself." After that, the group kind of disperses. I walk over to the vending machine to grab some chips, Ulrich and Yumi walk off with Macas somewhere. I grab my chips and look back, Aelita is sitting at the table with her head in his hands. I hurry back and sit next to her.

"Aelita… are you okay?" She doesn't respond.

"Aelita? Please talk to me." She still doesn't look at me, she talks through her hands.

"Go away Odd."

"No. As your friend, I consider it my duty to find out what's wrong."

"Be my friend and go away."

"Than I won't be your friend. I don't care, I'm not leaving until you talk to me."

"Then you'll be sitting here for a long time." She says.

"So be it. But it will help to talk. It seriously will."

"You're persistent, aren't you."

"I guess so. I'm not sure what persistent is, but if it means I don't go away then yes."

"I don't want to talk about it. I don't want to talk about anything. Just leave me alone."

"Aelita, do you know what this is? This mood you're in? It's called depression. When you're very sad, and you don't feel like it's going to get better, your depressed. And it's not a good thing."

"Why not?" Aelita looks at me for the first time. She wasn't crying, but she looks like she wants to.

"Because sometimes when people get very sad, they don't want to live anymore. So they try to kill themselves. It's called suicide."

"That's horrible!"

"It is. And what's sad is that lots of times, kids succeed. They kill themselves. No matter how much they think that no one cares about them, someone always does. At least enough to feel sad that they're gone. That's what's so sad. So we need to get you out of depression. The absolute best way to do this is to talk about whatever the problem is. So please Aelita, just talk to me. Tell me what you're feeling."

"O-okay. I'm scared."

"Of?"

"What's going to happen to Jeremie. What Xana could do. We almost lost Macas to him, and nearly lost you while trying to save him." She breaks down and begins to cry softly.

"Don't worry Aelita, it will be okay." I hold her close to my and she cries. Any other day, I would be blushing like mad, but it's different now. Right now I feel pity for Aelita. She's been having trouble with her emotions, considering how long she's been human. I only made it worse.

"Aelita, we will get Jeremie back. And no one else will get hurt. I promise."

"Thanks Odd," Aelita sniffles, "you always make me feel better."

"That's what friends are for." I hold her close to me for a couple more minutes until she stops crying.

"Are you feeling better now?" I ask her. She sits up straighter and smiles at me.

"Yes Odd, thank you."

"So… what do you want to do now? I mean, it's Saturday, we have all day to do anything."

"I don't know." At that moment, my cell phone rings with some grave news.

"Odd, Xana attack. Yumi was the target. Bring Aelita to the factory quickly." Macas says. I relay the news to Aelita and we rush to the factory. Whatever Xana did, it can't be good. Especially if it hurt Yumi. I do not want to see the look on Ulrich's face right now….

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**Hold on! Before you hit that review button, I want to say something. I warned you beforehand that you shouldn't expect the pairings in this story. I am the writer, and I have the authority to change pairings at any time I feel the need. I could even put Aelita with William if I wanted (twitch twitch). So sorry to all those OddxAelita fans, but this isn't a OxA story. Now that I have said that, you can go ahead and tell me all about how the OddxAelita pairing was cute and I should have stayed with it yadda yadda yadda. Go ahead, flame me.**

**Now, onto other things. That whole talk w/Aelita about the suicide was kind of a spur of the moment, I just kept on writing. For anyone who reads this story, even if you don't have a screen name, I want you to review. Just say if you liked the Aelita thing, didn't like it, hated it, or just didn't care. Trust me, the hardest part is just hitting that review button.**

**Just for the record, I was going to upload this a couple of days ago, but the document manager was on the fritz and I couldn't. It's not my fault.**

**I have decided that for the rest of the story I will give you a preview of the next chapter. So if you have read all my babble so far, you are rewarded with a sneak peek of the next chapter.**

(Macas P.O.V)

Next to the ground, on the outside, the science building has power outlets. And three of them are crackling with visible amounts of black energy.

"Macas! Get away from those!" Yumi yells, but it's too late. In the blink of an eye, one of Xana's ghost assembles itself from the energy within three outlets, and tries to possess me. I fight hard to keep my consciousness, my sense of self. Pain is erupting throughout every cell in my body, making it hard to stay conscious. I fight harder.

**Hurray for previews! And now I will leave you with a quote:**

**368. It's funny how I am blatantlymaking fun of you, yet you are blissfully unaware of it.**


	34. Civilized War

**I know it's been a while since I updated and I apologize (again). I hope this chapter makes up for it. I'll try to have the next one up within a week (no guarantees).

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(Macas P.O.V.) 

After Odd left to get some food, I left with Yumi and Ulrich. We walked along aimlessly talking. Ulrich was, of course, holding Yumi's hand, and Yumi was, of course, snuggling close to Ulrich. I find the whole thing somewhat ridiculous, but I'm not the one to say so. I don't remember ever having a crush, or anything like that. Being so obsessed over a girl… just seems kind of like a waste of time. But of course, that's my opinion. Ulrich obviously thinks differently. I don't think girls are a waste of time but… I don't know. I suppose when I find the right girl, I'll understand. I just hope I don't go as loopy, head-over-heels, obsessed like Ulrich and Jeremie do.

As we walk along, I remember some little tiny thing. I do that, I remember obscure little facts like this.

"What was the real reason you two got together? You said before it was some little thing, but it had to do with Lyoko, didn't it?" I ask, they both blush.

_That's a yes._

"Uh… yah. But it's not really important." Yumi says. I do some quick thinking and make a connection.

"Let me guess, you guys were talking about me, right?" They don't respond. "You guys make this too easy. Let me see how close I can get. After that soccer game, and I said I remembered the trips into the past, you guys ran off to the factory. Then you had a big fight whether or not to tell me about Lyoko. Ulrich already knew about my childhood, so he said you can trust me. You guys tried to get him to tell you about me, he got mad and ran off. Yumi went to go apologize, or something like that." They look at me, astonished.

"You hit the nail right on the head! How did you come up with that?"

"Oh, pretty simple. You said it had to do with Lyoko, and didn't respond when I asked if it had to do with me. So in other words, it was about Lyoko and me. You two had to get in a fight somehow, so Yumi could apologize, because you told me that before. The timing was kind of perfect for a fight over whether or not to tell me about Lyoko. So I figured Ulrich knew about me, you guys wanted to, so he left because he promised to keep it a secret."

"Wow. You figured that all out yourself in a matter of minutes?"

"Yah. It was pretty simple, just stringing facts together."

"You're one amazing guy Macas." Yumi says.

"Thanks. But don't let Ulrich hear you say that, he might get the wrong impression." I smile and Yumi blushes.

"Macas, why haven't you ever had a girlfriend? I mean, it's not like girls have rejected you, right?" Ulrich asks me.

"Nah, I just haven't found a girl that I like enough to date. Excluding Yumi and Aelita because they're taken."

"So… if I wasn't taken, would you date me?" Yumi asks. I'm startled by her response, but think about it.

"I don't know. If you weren't dating Ulrich… and I knew that Ulrich didn't want to date you… you know, that's a very good question. I would seriously consider it."

"Aww, you're so sweet." Yumi says, and I blush.

"Woah! Macas blushed!" Yumi and Ulrich say at the same time.

"So? I'm human you know."

"That is the first time I've seen you blush!" Ulrich says.

"In all this time, you have never blushed!" Yumi says.

"Okay, so I don't blush very often, is that a crime?" I ask almost sarcastically. Ulrich begins to respond, but I stop him. I thought I heard something. A small, faint noise, so faint it's not possible to tell what kind of sound it is. I look over at the science building and see small flashes of light. I walk over, Yumi and Ulrich follow silently. I kneel down to the wall next to the building. Next to the ground, on the outside, the science building has power outlets. And three of them are crackling with visible amounts of black energy.

"Macas! Get away from those!" Yumi yells, but it's too late. In the blink of an eye, one of Xana's ghost assembles itself from the energy within three outlets, and tries to possess me. I fight hard to keep my consciousness, my sense of self. Pain is erupting throughout every cell in my body, making it hard to stay conscious. I fight harder.

After a couple of minutes, the pain begins to subside. I'm winning the battle, turning the tide. Xana's ghost is losing. Soon, it's gone, I managed to stop it. I open my eyes to see the ghost floating above us. Yumi and Ulrich are looking at me with concern.

"Watch out…." I manage to say, but too late. The ghost flies down and buries itself in Yumi. Yumi immediately falls to the ground as if dead.

"Yumi!" I sit up and look at her as Ulrich runs over to her. As soon as I can, I stand up and look over her. She's thrashing around on the ground as if she's having a seizure.

"Yumi! Fight it Yumi!" Ulrich is yelling. Even though it's Saturday, there are still people in the courtyard. By now, a large crowd has gathered around us. As suddenly as it began, Yumi stops. She just falls limp.

"Ulrich, Xana wasn't trying to possess her… he's trying to kill her!" I say as I realize it. Ulrich looks up at me in shock. Tears come to his eyes, but he wipes them away furiously.

"No! I won't let you die Yumi, not now. I need you!" He yells. I quickly pull out my cell phone and dial Odd's number.

"Hello?"

"Odd, Xana attack. Yumi was the target. Bring Aelita to the factory quickly." I say and hang up. The large crowd of people that gathered is looking at Ulrich and Yumi. Xana is obviously attacking Yumi's inner body, she hasn't moved. I touch Ulrich's shoulder.

"Ulrich, the only way to save Yumi is to deactivate the tower on Lyoko. Let's go." He stands up. He wobbles a little bit, I think he might be a little bit delirious.

"Okay…." He says quietly.

"Ulrich," I grab him by the shoulders and turn him around. He's crying quietly, tears rolling freely down his cheeks, "go now to Lyoko. I'll take Yumi to the infirmary and meet you there. The only way to save her is to go. Go!" I yell after he doesn't move. Finally, he takes off running. Faster than I have ever seen him before. I quickly pick up Yumi bridal style and carry her to the infirmary.

"Dorothy! Yumi collapsed!" I say when I see her. Dorothy takes her and sets her down on a bed.

"Her pulse is extremely rapid. That's not a good sign." Dorothy says. That's all I need to hear. I run out the door and take off for the tunnel in the park. Since Yumi won't be using it anytime soon, I take her skateboard. When I reach the end, Ulrich's board isn't leaning against the wall like usual. I look over, it's smashed against the dead end wall to my right. It looks like Ulrich didn't even stop, he just jumped off his skateboard and climbed up the ladder. I quickly ascend the ladder and run across the bridge. I enter the control room and see no one is there. Climbing in the chair, I see that Aelita had put on the automatic countdown for their virtualization. They are now in Lyoko, the ice sector.

"Hey guys, how's it look?" I ask through the ear-piece.

"Too quiet." Odd says. The holomap shows no monsters in sight.

"Okay, the tower is straight in front of you." I say. There's no need for me to go to Lyoko now, I might as well just stay here. Besides, with a pissed-off Ulrich down there, there's no way Xana could do much harm. But I can't help but wonder what's going on as Aelita enters the tower unharmed. There's no monsters in sight. No battle. But as soon as Aelita does enter, a large blue dot appears on my screen.

_Jeremie…_.

"Macas, we have a problem." Odd says.

"Jeremie?"

"Yup. He says he just wants to talk to us." I hear Aelita say the tower has been deactivated, so I know Yumi is safe now. So I decide to wait, and hear what Jeremie has to say. I press a couple keys, opening the com-link for everything so I can hear Jeremie. I also de-virtualize Aelita. She appears beside me after a couple minutes, and Jeremie starts to talk.

"So, now that Aelita and Yumi are safe, I think we can talk now."

"What do you want Xana?" Ulrich's voice says.

"I want to make a deal."

"What's that?" Odd asks.

"Actually, I want the Chosen One to come down and hear it himself."

"Don't bother Macas, you don't have to come here. He has a trap planned." Ulrich says.

"Please, why would I need to set a trap? I am Xana, master of Lyoko. This isn't a brawl, it's a civilized war between two enemies."

"You don't have to come down Macas. It's okay if you don't."

"No Ulrich, this is my fight. I will come down." I pull of the ear-piece and hand it to Aelita.

"Can you virtualize me?" I ask.

"Of course." I head down to the scanners and step inside. I go through the whole process rather quickly, and I end up in the polar region landing in between Ulrich and Odd. I'm decked out in my usual attire, and man does it feel good.

"Okay Xana, what do you want?"

"Finally, what took you so long? Hasn't Jeremie figured out that shortcut yet?" Jeremie says, standing up again. He was lying against a rock, obviously bored.

"What shortcut?" Aelita asks.

"Check through the scanner program, there's a rather large shortcut that can cut the time in half. Jeez, I thought he would have figured it out by now."

"Cut to the chase Xana, what's the deal?" I ask, getting annoyed.

_He made me come down for this?_

"You really are impatient, you know that?"

"Yes I do. Now hurry up and tell me the deal, or else I'm leaving." Jeremie gives a sigh.

"I will give you back control of Jeremie, no strings attached, if Macas will willingly join me." Odd and Ulrich immediately refuse.

"No way Xana. Jeremie is no more important to us than Macas." Ulrich says.

"We would never sacrifice a teammate for another!" Odd says.

"Wait, why do you want me?" I ask. Xana just laughs.

"You know why. I know Aelita got that accidental glimpse into my private files. She knows about the prophecy that Franz Hopper made. Macas is the Chosen One. The one Franz Hopper prophesied would destroy me. I doubted that the old fool had any possible way of making a real prophecy, but this comes too close. Macas is the chosen one, I'm sure of it. So if the prophecy is true, he is the only one of you pitiful fools who stands a chance of beating me. If he will surrender himself to me, I will release Jeremie and never take control of any member of your group again."

"You cut a hard bargain Xana. And you know it." I say thoughtfully. I'm not going to make any decision for now.

"Well, fine than. You leave me no choice. If I couldn't make a rational bargain, I will have to force your hand." I do a double take.

"Say what?" I ask.

"Jeremie," Jeremie (Xana) says, "is expendable. I don't really need him. He was just a pawn for my purposes. Now that you apparently don't want him either, he is of no further purpose to me." With a smirk, Jeremie falls limp to the ground.

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**Okay, another chapter gone! That's only two left before the end. I think a lot of you will enjoy the next chapter, it's the climax of the story, the final showdown. And here's a small sample.**

(Macas P.O.V)

"You lied Xana. You cheated." He grins at me, an evil grin.

"So? You can't do anything about it. You can't kill me, only Jeremie."

"Well, we just have to get Jeremie back some other way then."

"Yah right, like how? The absolute only way to free Jeremie is if he frees himself, which is impossible." Xana says.

"Oh, I think you underestimate Jeremie." I say and he just smirks at me again.

**That is but a small sample of the chapter. I've made it a massive 2,800 words long, just for your enjoyment. (More updates could mean I might be persuaded to update sooner...) I hope you enjoyed this chapter and didn't hate the cliffhanger too much. So now, I leave with a quote:**

**"Whoever said nothing is impossible never tried slamming a revolving door."**


	35. Knight of Lyoko

**Okay, this is the final battle! The battle that you probably knew was coming, Team Lyoko vs. Team (the one man team) Xana. Unfortunately, Xana hijacked Jeremie, so now he's fighting for the wrong side. And I'm blathering on and on and on and on about stuff you already know! So I will get on with the story! First I will dedicate this to everyone who reviewed within the last two chapters, because I love them! Yay! I added something that I thought was pretty cool, and I hope you all like it, it's a something new for Macas. It will come into play more effectively in the next story. Please tell me if you liked it or not.**

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(Macas P.O.V.) 

**Last Chapter**

_"Say what?" I ask._

_"Jeremie," Jeremie (Xana) says, "is expendable. I don't really need him. He was just a pawn for my purposes. Now that you apparently don't want him either, he is of no further purpose to me." With a smirk, Jeremie falls limp to the ground._

**Resume story**

Ulrich runs over to Jeremie at supersprint.

"Aelita! What's happening?" I yell to the sky.

"Jeremie is l-losing all his life p-points…." Aelita says sobbing.

"So? He'll be devirtualized, and come back here!" Odd says.

"No he won't. Why do you think Crabs don't get devirtualized and come here? Anything under control of Xana can't be materialized normally here." Aelita explains to him.

"He did it that one time with the roachsters!" Ulrich says.

"But that was Xana's doing. He won't do it for Jeremie."

"Guys, this is it." I say. "Xana's backed us into a corner. It's either me or Jeremie. And I won't let Jeremie die because I was to selfish for myself."

"No Macas, we'll find some other way!" Aelita yells from above.

"There's no time. Sorry guys, this is my decision." I say. "Xana! I'll do what you want on one condition!" I yell. Jeremie opens his eyes and stands up. He's still under Xana's control.

"What's the condition?"

"Last time we fought, it was a draw. Let us resume. If I win, you will release Jeremie with no harm done to him at all. If I lose, I will willingly submit myself to your every will. I will fight against Jeremie, winner take all." Jeremie smirks.

"Fine, it's a deal. Let's shake hands; that is the Earth custom, yes?"

"Yes. But if you go back on your deal, not even hell itself can protect you." I say. He walks over to me and we shake hands. I step back and prepare myself. I draw my sword and clear my mind. Aelita appears next to Odd and Ulrich. I close my eyes and shake my head.

"Aelita, what are you doing here?" I ask her without opening my eyes.

"I am Princess Aelita, Guardian of Lyoko. It is my duty to protect it. But even a princess needs help. You are the Macas, Knight of Lyoko. You will fight for it. Do well." She says in a royal tone. Under normal circumstances, I would be somewhat offended by her tone of superiority, but now it feels right. I feel something… change… inside me. I feel confident, powerful. Unbeatable.

_Knight of Lyoko huh? So be it._

My eyes are still closed, I can't see anything. A vision goes through my head of Jeremie taking a cheap shot at me. I hear him quietly pull out his gun and fire. I don't block it, I just dodge. A slight move of my head to the right. The laser flies harmlessly past my head and into the distance.

"That won't work Xana." I say. I know it's insulting to him that I won't even open my eyes to fight him. But with my eyes closed, it's all a lot calmer to me. I don't have the pressures of the fight upon me. Another vision of Jeremie pulling out both pistols and firing flashes in front of me. I can't dodge all these, so I pull my sword calmly in front of my face. I block every shot, at least twenty of them.

"You're overconfidence will be your undoing." Jeremie says calmly. I open my eyes in time to see him clench his fist in front of him. Like last time, I feel my throat clench. I raise a couple feet into the air, my feet dangling. I grab with my arms, trying to touch the invisible bonds that hold me. I realize this is something that I can't counter physically, so I reach out with my mind. Besides, he's not hurting me at all, it's just a tactic to freak me out and try to make me surrender. Somehow, I can feel the presence of those around me. I know that Ulrich is standing firmly, watching carefully. Aelita is standing like the princess she is. Odd is slouching slightly, but no less interested. In front of me, a void exists. Blackness surrounding a bright human spirit. That's what's holding Jeremie.

This is strange. I am in the battle for my very soul, but I am totally at peace. What's more, I can feel my surroundings as though I can see them. Very bizarre. As I feel out with my mind, I find a connection between me and Jeremie. A blue streak is connecting his fist to my throat. Once I found it, it's relatively easy to break. I concentrate on it with my mind, and it shatters. I fall to the ground landing gracefully on my feet. I straighten up and open my eyes to see Jeremie staring at me in shock.

"How did you do that? That's impossible, it took me months to program that code!"

"Nothing you can do will hurt me now. I am the chosen one, the one who will destroy you." His eyes narrow, sending malice my way. I remember that Jeremie has amazing physical speed. He rushes at me headlong. He thrusts a fist at me, I dodge. He strikes again, again, and again. I've gained speed, but not enough to beat him, so I just dodge and parry. As it turns out, my physical abilities have been enhanced as much as my mental capacity has. This goes on for a couple of minutes, but I don't strike back. Not once.

"Guys, what is happening?" Yumi's frantic voice comes from above.

_The nurse must have let her out when we deactivated the tower…._

"Yumi?" Ulrich says incredulously. "How did you get out of the infirmary?"

"The nurse let me out as soon as Xana's ghost had left me." I parry another blow, but almost didn't. I'm paying too much attention to Yumi and not to Jeremie.

"Macas is fighting Jeremie." Odd says.

_That's an understatement._

"I'm coming down!" She says frantically.

"No Yumi!" I yell. That split second distraction cost me dearly. Finally, Jeremie manages to land a blow to my chest. I fly back a couple of feet and land on my back, but I use my momentum to do a backflip and land back on my feet.

"Yumi, it's not safe down here." I say as Jeremie pulls out his guns. I look around, but I cannot find my sword. When Jeremie has lifted me into the air, I subconsciously dropped it. Twenty feet away. Ulrich jumps forward, ready to strike if needed.

"No Ulrich. I will not let you cheat for me. If I lose, I will lose fair and square." I say, and consign myself to my defeat. There's no way I can dodge that many lasers at once. I close my eyes and prepare for defeat.

_Maybe I'm not the chosen one after all…_.

It might have been a vision, I'm not sure. It might have been part of my new mental capabilities, I'm not sure. I think it may have been both. Either way, just a split second before Jeremie fires, I reach out and grab Ulrich's sword. It was flying in front of me, coming straight from Ulrich who had thrown it. I snap the katana around in my hands, blocking the first shot. I twist the sword around with a skill I didn't know I had, blocking every laser that Jeremie unleashed on me. Ulrich's katana is different than mine, it's slightly heavier and thinner. I adjust quickly, but it's not my sword. I'm not nearly as proficient as I know I would be with my own sword. I get hit once in the leg, but I don't stop. Jeremie backs up, firing more rounds, until we have backpedaled back to where we began. Jeremie stops, and I look down. My sword, my own precious energy sword is laying at my feet. I stoop down carefully and grab it, keeping an eye on Jeremie.

"So the tides have turned," Jeremie remarks, "you now have two weapons when you were my equal at one." I shake my head. Taking careful aim, I throw Ulrich's own katana back at him, it lands directly in his sheath without him moving.

"I don't need the extra weapon." I say. I settle into my offensive stance. Jeremie seems to recognize this, and he backs away furiously. He stops for a second and looks at his pistol. A magnificent weapon, he seems to admire it. In the blink of an eye, the pistol morphs into a long black sword, similar to my own.

"Let us continue." He says with a mocking bow.

"Let's." I say with a graceful bow of my own. He takes advantage of my distraction and charges. While still bowing, I flip my sword over my back and across my neck, blocking the blow that would have just landed.

_I love these visions…_

He backs away, glaring at me. I stand up straight and then back into my offensive stance. Jeremie gets ready and we clash. Left, right, left, parry, thrust, twist, up, parry, right, down, we go on like that for an even longer time, sparks flying from our swords. Eventually, fatigue sets in. My blows become slower, parries less often, and dodging a lot more. I realize Jeremie is too. Even though Xana is controlling him, Jeremie is still human, just like me. I take comfort in this and attack with renewed vigor. I have not landed a blow on Jeremie, neither has he struck me. Pulling out my best maneuver, I quickly disarm him. His sword goes high into the air, and I jump and catch it. Jeremie looks at me, defeat burning in his eyes.

"I have lost." He says fairly.

"So you have. Release Jeremie." I say. He glares at me, but then his eyes turn back to a normal white. His bright blue pupils have regained their normal color.

"Jeremie?" I ask.

"Macas?" He says, looking around.

"Jeremie!" Aelita yells. All princess-like attributes had disappeared and she acted like herself again. I turn to her and smile, but then two visions go through my head. Jeremie turns back under control, steals my sword, and hits me with it. Another vision is shown to me simultaneously. Jeremie goes back under Xana's control, and steals my sword. I turn to stop him but he hurls it towards Aelita, instantly devirtualizing her. I know I must choose one vision, one will come true. Either save myself or Aelita. I turn and see Jeremie change, just like he was supposed to. I have a choice, I must choose now, Aelita or myself. Then I realize something.

Just as Jeremie lunges for my sword, I pull it out of his reach. I swing around and hit him with the hilt across the back, sending him sprawling on the ground. I calmly walk over and put my sword to his neck.

"You lied Xana. You cheated." He grins at me, an evil grin.

"So? You can't do anything about it. You can't kill me, only Jeremie."

"Well, we just have to get Jeremie back some other way then."

"Yah right, like how? The absolute only way to free Jeremie is if he frees himself, which is impossible." Xana says.

"Oh, I think you underestimate Jeremie." I say and he just smirks at me again.

"I think not." I reach out with my mind again, feeling for Odd.

"I have a question Xana."

"What's that?" He asks, spitting venom in his voice, but I barely hear him. I reach Odd, and I can feel his consciousness. I delve into his mind, I can hear what he's thinking.

_Shit shit shit shit…._

"Can Jeremie hear every word we say?" I ask Jeremie.

"Ha, yes he can. I'm forcing to listen to every word your saying, just to torture him." That's exactly what I wanted to hear. I transmit a message telepathically into Odd's mind. He's surprised, but he will do what I say.

"Can Jeremie see what we're doing?"

"Everything…." He says and laughs. I reach for Aelita's mind, I can hear what she's thinking too.

_Jeremie… I love you! I-I need you!_

_Aelita! I need your help!_

Aelita looks around confused.

_Who's that?_

_It's, Macas! I need you to do something for me!_

_What? Anything, if it will free Jeremie._

_Odd's going to do something for me. I need you to not only embrace it, but return it!_

_What is it?_

_You'll find out in a second._

_Okay, I'll do whatever you need me to._

_Just remember, you have to return it._

_Okay._

I pull out of Aelita's mind and go back into Odd's mind.

_Odd! Now!_

I grab Jeremie by the front of his armor and lift him up. I turn him around to face Odd and Aelita.

"What are you doing?"

"Jeremie, pay attention!" I say. Odd walks over to Aelita and kisses her full on the lips. Aelita looks surprised, but remembers what I say. She kisses back. Jeremie's body goes limp, and I drop him on the ground. He rolls over, holding his head. He opens his eyes, they've gone back to white.

_Jeremie's broken free again!_

"No, no no no nono!" Jeremie begins moaning. "Aelita, how could you?"

I quickly take my sword and stab down, devirtualizing Jeremie instantly. As soon as I do, Odd and Aelita break apart. I walk over calmly. Ulrich is looking at them like they're insane.

"What the hell are you guys doing?" He yells at them.

"Calm down Ulrich, it's my fault. I told them telepathically to do it." I say, and Ulrich calms down slightly.

"Now do you mind explaining?" Odd and Aelita ask at the same time.

"Not that that was disgusting or anything… but I don't like Aelita like that."

"Yah, Odd's a great friend and all…."

"Calm down guys. I did it for Jeremie."

"Say what? Did you see what happened to Jeremie? Did you see how much pain you caused him?" Ulrich says, getting in my face. Before I can answer, a loud voice echoes from the sky. Definitely not Jeremie, it's the voice of Xana. The voice is almost painful to hear, it sounds like sandpaper rubbing against itself.

"Bravo Macas. You have outsmarted me this time. But it will not happen again. I promise you, I will not be beaten again." It says and tapers off. I turn back to Odd and Aelita and smile.

"When you kissed, Jeremie was in such turmoil that he broke free of Xana's control. When that happened, I devirtualized him, sending him back to our world." Their eyes widen, and realization comes across their faces.

"You're a genius!" Aelita says.

"Except for one thing." Ulrich says, looking at me.

"What's that?"

"Jeremie thought it was real."

_Oh crap, I forgot about that!_

"Jeremie! Are you there? Yumi?" I yell to the sky, but there's no answer.

"Uh, how do we get back now?" Odd asks.

"Uh…." I say. Man, I hate it when my perfect plan has all these loose ends. After a couple minutes, Yumi comes back.

"Guys, Jeremie is okay. Sort of. He refuses to get out of the scanner or say anything to me. He just keeps saying 'Aelita how could you' over and over again. Anybody mind explaining?"

"We're going to have to send somebody else back, to get Jeremie to devirtualize us." Ulrich says, completely ignoring Yumi.

"Send me." Aelita says. By unspoken (and un-telepathic (is that a word?))agreement, Odd, Ulrich and I agree Aelita would be the best person to send back right now.

"But I don't know how to devirtualize someone!" Yumi says frantically.

"I know how." Odd says and walks in front of her. He puts his wrist to her forehead, and releases two arrows, devirtualizing her.

"Thanks Odd.…" She manages to say before she vanishes. As soon as she does, the feeling I had, the one of confidence and power, leaves me. I can no longer feel with my mind, and I know my strength and stamina have gone back to normal.

"Woah, that's weird." I say.

"What?" Ulrich asks.

"When Aelita called me the Knight of Lyoko, this… feeling came over me. I knew it was true, that I was the Knight of Lyoko. I was predestined to be. Along with that came my new powers. Strength, speed, stamina. My telepathic powers, that's how I was able to defeat Xana."

"That's pretty cool. What else can you do?" Ulrich asks.

"That was about it. But I felt very confident, I felt… powerful." I say, Odd smiles at me.

"You have got to get yourself a girl mate," I look at him strangely, he and Ulrich start laughing, "I'm serious. You have got to get out more. You're beginning to be like Jeremie."

"Hey, I resent that." I say.

"So… what was strange? You said something was weird."

"Oh yah. When Aelita was devirtualized, that feeling went away. I'm not telepathic anymore, and I'll bet Jeremie could easily defeat me."

"That sucks." Odd says still laughing.

"Well, your princess is gone. When your princess no longer needs protecting, the Knight no longer needs to fight."

"That makes sense." I say. I sit on the ground and wait for Jeremie to devirtualize us.

"So, what now?" I ask. As if on cue, three tarantulas drop out of the sky.

"I think that answers your question." Odd says. And so we fight.

* * *

**The epic final battle is over (phew). I really hoped you liked it, I must have rewritten it at least twice. Please tell me if there's anything wrong or any mistakes or absolutely anything at all. The next chapter is the last one, and then there will be a sequal! Yay sequal! Now that I have given you this, I expect a review. An eye for an eye, a review for a story!**

**Quote Number 227. Ways of the compass: Up, down, left right.**

**244. Silence is golden, but duct tape is silver.**

**247. I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross roads and not have their motives challenged.**

**So, until next time, see you later!**


	36. Night is Coming

**Hey guys, this is the last chapter of A Dark Secret! If you don't like that fact, just wait for the sequal, which I shall put up as soon as possible.**

**This chapter is basically just tying up all the loose ends I had going throughout the last couple chapters.**

**There is a lot of foreshadowing in this chapter, see if you can find all of it! (foreshadowing is giving a vague hint of what might be coming later)**

**This chapter is dedicated to absolutely everyone who has ever reviewed!**

* * *

(Aelita P.O.V.) 

"Thanks Odd." I said before I was devirtualized. I ended up back in the scanners, nearly falling down as I stepped out. I managed to grab a hold of the side though, preventing me from falling all the way. As I stepped out, my first thought was of Jeremie. I look around, I didn't have to look far. Jeremie is curled up in the scanner that Ulrich usually takes. I walk over to him and kneel down, he's crying.

"Aelita…." He says without opening his eyes. "Aelita how could you?" He says. I don't think he even knows I'm here.

"I did it for you." I say, and he opens his eyes.

"Aelita!" He says, but quickly malice fills his eyes. He turns away from me, facing the wall of the scanner. "Go away. I don't want to see you right now."

"But I want to see you." I don't fully understand what he's feeling right now, but I know it's not good.

"Go see your boyfriend, Odd."

"Odd isn't my boyfriend, I didn't want to kiss him."

"You kissed him back though, I saw you."

"Only to help you." He still refuses to look at me, so I drape my arms around his shoulders lovingly. He doesn't shy away from it, but I don't think he is enjoying it. Or maybe he doesn't want to enjoy it. I don't know, human emotions are too complicated for me. They are definitely way more complicated than computer programming.

"Please Jeremie, let me explain."

"It's okay Aelita, you don't-" He begins, but I cut him off.

"No. I need to explain. I kissed Odd to break the hold Xana had on you. I didn't know it at the time, but I was. Macas spoke to Odd and me telepathically, telling us to do it. It was the only way to free you."

"I'm sorry Aelita, I jumped to conclusions, when I saw you and Odd-"

"Don't be sorry," I whisper into his ear, "You had every right to jump to conclusions. Anyone else would have done the same thing if they had seen what you had."

"Does this mean you forgive me?"

"Already done." I say. He turns around and kisses me. I missed that kiss, I haven't had it for so long….

"Thank you Aelita," He says hugging me, "for everything."

"You're welcome Jeremie. Now, we need to go and devirtualize the others." We stand up and see the middle scanner warm up. Odd steps out, gasping for breath. "Well, except Odd." I say giggling. Jeremie laughs along with me, Odd just looks at us.

"Hey, don't laugh. That tarantula took a cheap shot." I just help Jeremie stand up and we all get into the elevator. We ride up to the control room, Jeremie has his arm around my waist. Jeremie, my Jeremie, sits in the chair and puts the headset on his ear.

"Man, it feels good to be back." He says.

"It's good to have you back." Ulrich says over the speakers.

"Thanks. Did you guys have any problems?"

"Nah, just a couple of tarantulas. Nothing we couldn't take care of." Macas says.

"Well, except Odd." Ulrich adds.

"Hey!" Odd says loudly. Jeremie laughs.

"Alright, I'm bringing you guys back now." Jeremie says, and types a couple of keys. After that, he stands up and puts his arm around my waist. "Let's go now." He says, and I nod my head.

* * *

(Odd P.O.V.) 

I was fighting the tarantula, dodging most of the lasers. I dropped into a roll, and then leaped into the air above the tarantula. Shooting three arrows, I destroyed it fairly easily. I landed on my feet after doing a flip, only to be devirtualized by another tarantula shooting me in the back. I cursed myself as I entered the scanner. The doors opened, and I leaned out, gasping for breath. The return trip is not fun at all, especially not when forcefully devirtualized.

"Well, except for Odd." Aelita says looking at me.

"Hey, don't laugh. That tarantula took a cheap shot." I walk over, and we all get into the elevator. One short conversation and Ulrich making a joke of my being shot later, we're all back in the elevator, heading for the factory floor. We get out and head back to the school, but none of us want to go back now, so we stay in the forest.

"I know a nice place to go." Ulrich says. Already knowing where he's talking about, we go with him to his favorite tree. It really is a nice, relaxing place. A large, full tree, with lots of branches for shade. A small stream goes by not far away, it provides a nice sound. The green grass growing around it, the path that goes nearby, but not too close to disturb him, it's no wonder why Ulrich likes it so much. Ulrich swings up onto a low branch like he always does, and I follow suit. Yumi climbs up also, I change to a different branch to make sure there's not too much weight on that one. Ulrich puts his arm around Yumi, like always and turns to me.

"So Odd," He says somewhat quietly, "Did you feel… anything… during that kiss with Aelita?" He says. I look down, Jeremie, Macas and Aelita are sitting against the base of the tree, talking with each other. I look at Ulrich and smile.

"Yup."

"Say what?" His asks, obviously wondering if I'm joking or not.

"Yah, I felt something. I felt kind of creeped out because I was kissing one of my best friends. Especially because I have no romantic interest in her whatsoever anymore." I say.

"Odd, if we weren't in a tree, I would hit you." Ulrich says, relief evident in his voice.

"Ah, calm down Ulrich. Jeremie and Aelita are happy together. I'm not going to do anything more to disturb that."

"Odd, you know what?" Yumi asks me.

"What?" I look down and see Jeremie and Aelita about to kiss.

"You've matured." I fish around in my pocket for something.

"Don't be so sure." I quickly grab a pen from my pocket and 'accidentally' drop it. It hits Jeremie on the head just before they kiss, stopping them. He looks up and me and I look away innocently. Ulrich and Yumi laugh. I see Aelita sending me death glares, but I don't care. I'm happy that I'm alive, and so are all of my friends. The only thing that is still bugging me is the fact that I thought I really loved Aelita. But I didn't. How am I supposed to know in the future if I really love a girl…?

* * *

(Jeremie P.O.V.) 

We walked to Ulrich's favorite tree in the park by his suggestion. I haven't ever been here before, but it is a very peaceful place. I can understand why Ulrich likes it. Ulrich, Odd and Yumi hop into the tree, but I sit down near the trunk. I pull Aelita down close to me and hold her even closer. Macas lays against the trunk of the tree on my other side.

"Hey Jeremie, I'm sorry I had to do that." He says to me.

"Which part? Where you horribly beat me in battle, where you had the love of my life kiss another boy, or where you stabbed me?" I say, half jokingly.

"I'm going to be safe and say all of them." He says and we laugh. "But seriously, I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it. In fact, I should be thanking you for freeing me from Xana's evil grasp. Even if Aelita did have to kiss Odd for it."

"Hey, it was all for the greater cause." He says.

"Macas, why didn't you just say _Odd is going to kiss you, you need to kiss him back_?" Aelita asks.

"Say what?" I ask bewildered.

"Because," Macas says chuckling, "I wasn't sure how you would react. I wanted you to promise and trust me before I would have told you."

"Did you wonder about my love for Jeremie?" She asks mockingly.

"Of course not." He said. "Even if I did, there is absolutely no way I would admit it. You both would most likely kill me, and then Yumi would for good measure." He says and puts his hands behind his head, closing his eyes. I turn back to Aelita. I lean my forehead against hers gently, taking in her wonderful scent.

"I love you Aelita." I say.

"I love you too Jeremie." She responds, and I lean in to kiss her. Just before our lips meet, something bounces off my head. I look up to see Odd right above me, Yumi and Ulrich are laughing. I look down and see that Odd dropped a blue pen onto me, most definitely on purpose because he's trying to look innocent. Aelita is glaring at him, he just smiles and leans against the trunk of the tree. I turn to Aelita and put my finger to her lips, signaling her to stay quiet. I grab the pen and look up. Odd has his eyes closed.

"Hey Odd," I say throwing the pen up towards him, "Think fast." He opens his eyes and leans forward just in time for the pen to bop him on the nose. He recoils reflexively, and nearly falls out of the tree in the process.

"No fair, you know I can't think fast." He says. "I barely think at all." Even Macas starts laughing at that. We're interrupted by Aelita's cell phone ringing. She answers it, and after a moment goes pale.

"Yes Mr. Delmas. I'm in the park right now. I will be there in about fifteen minutes." She says and hangs up.

"I forgot. Everyone else still thinks you're missing!" She says, turning to me. Everyone else turns and listens.

"Yah, I kind of figured that they would." I say.

"Your parents are at the school." She continues.

"Wait, what? How are we going to explain how I just showed up completely unharmed? This is not good, my parents are pretty sharp. They'll figure out something is strange if I were to just show up."

"Well, you don't have to appear completely unharmed." Macas says. "We could rough you up a little, make it look like you were hurt."

"That's a good idea. But what am I supposed to say? I was abducted by aliens? Kidnappers who took me and gave me back?"

"Don't say anything." Odd says, dropping out of the tree and landing on his feet.

"Eventually, I'm going to have to say something."

"No, just tell them you don't remember a thing. The last thing you remember was going to dinner on Friday and then waking up here in the forest."

"Odd… that's a good idea! It's amazing, you came up with something reasonable!" I say. Ulrich and Yumi hop down next to Odd. I stand up and spread my arms out.

"Okay guys, rough me up. Just don't hurt me too bad." Ulrich and Macas proceed to 'rough me up.' It consists of basically ripping my shirt and pants a little, spreading some dirt and mud on me, tousling my hair and slightly bending my glasses. Odd, Aelita and I are going to go into the school, I'm going to pretend to be half conscious when we get closer. If everyone were to come, it might look suspicious. I just hope this works. I never was much of an actor…

* * *

(Yumi P.O.V.) 

"Jeez guys, be careful." I say, looking at Ulrich. He ripped Jeremie's sleeve a little bit too much, it almost tore off completely. Macas and Ulrich are doing the honors, we refused to let Odd try and help. We didn't want him to do something stupid and actually hurt Jeremie.

"Okay guys, that's enough." Jeremie says. He walks off with Odd and Aelita towards the school. Hopefully, this will be convincing enough for his parents.

"So Yumi, do you want to go home now?" Ulrich says looking at me. Oh God I wish I had a camera. This is the absolute perfect picture. He's looking at me and smiling, the sun is setting right behind his head, setting the forest ablaze with reds and oranges. He looks angelic….

"Yumi, are you okay?" He asks, his face changing flawlessly into one of concern. I shake myself a little.

"Yah, I'm fine." I walk over and hug him, he embraces me with his strong arms, making me feel so… safe. "I just wanted you to know that I love you." He strokes my hair.

"I love you too Yumi. And I will do anything for you."

"I know."

"I'll take you home. Do you want to come along Macas?" He says, turning back to where Macas is watching us. He waves his hand.

"No, you two have fun. I don't want to be a third wheel. Besides you have the right to enjoy each other's company without my interruption. So just get going." He says.

"Okay, I'll see you later." Ulrich says and we walk off.

My heart is strong, my body is strong, even my mind is strong. Everyone knows that I would rather hit someone than reveal my emotions. But not around Ulrich. I always melt into his arms, my defenses are shattered. But I don't care. It's Ulrich, and I would do anything for him. Just like I know he would for me.

"Are you going to be okay Yumi?" He says, still holding me close.

"Yah, I'll be okay. Jeremie is safe now-"

"No, that's not what I meant. Your father left you, your brother nearly committed suicide. Jeremie was captured, Macas was severely hurt by him, and Odd nearly died trying to save him. You nearly lost five people within the last week." I feel tears begin to come to my eyes, but I hold them back like always.

"So…?" I ask, trying to still be strong.

"Are you going to be okay? I care about you Yumi, and no one will hurt you ever again. But what I am most scared of is of you hurting yourself."

"W-what? Why… why would I hurt myself?"

"You already did." He says, looking at my arms. I took the bandages off already, but there are still scabs where the knife pierced my skin. They are going to leave some pretty ugly scars.

"I just don't want you to get hurt, by yourself or otherwise." He says. My defensive walls break down, just like always. Tears come to my eyes, and roll down my face. He holds me tight, and I cry into his chest. I already begin to feel better, just because I'm in his arms. He strokes my hair gently, and we just stand there for a couple minutes. After a little while, I look up at him. Tears are rolling down his face as well. This, more than anything else, upset me. To see my strong Ulrich crying, it's heartbreaking.

"Ulrich, what's the matter?" He smiles at me through his tears.

"I feel your pain Yumi. I feel misery whenever you are sad. When you are happy, I feel overjoyed." He says. Without saying anything, I lean up and kiss him.

"Thank you Ulrich." I say. We resume walking back towards my house in comfortable silence…

* * *

(Ulrich P.O.V.) 

When we reach Yumi's front gate, I stop. I turn back towards Yumi. She looks so beautiful in the fading twilight.

"Do you want to come in? It's now just as much your house as much as it is mine." She says, looking at me. I shake my head.

"No, I have to get back to the school." I say, but I don't leave yet. "But I want to say something first." I say. She stops and stares at me. I reach into my pocket and pull out a small, simple, black, velvet covered box that I got when I got the chain for Hiroki's necklace. I quickly pull it out and open it.

"Yumi, this is a promise ring." I say quickly, before she gets the wrong idea. She stares at it. It's very beautiful, worthy of Yumi's hand.

"Whenever you wear it, I want you to remember that I promise to always, and I mean always, take care of you." I say. I take the ring out and clench it in my palm. "I also want you to promise me something." She looks at me with her warm dark eyes.

"Anything." She says softly.

"Whenever you are feeling depressed, at all, I want you to come and talk to me. I will help you get through it. Those who hurt themselves intentionally usually try to do it again, but I will not let that happen to you. You scared me to death last time. Can you promise me that?" She looks at me and nods.

"Yes, I promise." She says confirming it. I take the ring and slip it over her middle finger, so no one thinks it is an engagement ring. No matter how much I want it, right now is not the time.

"Can we seal it with a kiss?" She asks quietly, looking at me. I quickly lean down and grab her by the waist, bringing her up to my height and kiss her gently. I set her down and she walks through her gate.

"Goodnight, and sweet dreams Yumi." I say.

"Goodnight Ulrich." She says, and I walk off into the fading twilight, back to the school…

* * *

(Macas P.O.V.) 

Yumi and Ulrich walk off into the fading light, but I still just lean against this tree. I have a feeling I will be coming back to this tree to think many times in the future. I sit quietly and think about what has happened to me in the last week. I moved to a totally different country, made new friends on the first day here. I was quickly and falsely blamed for an attack on one of my new friends, and now acquitted. More importantly, I found out about something that is threatening the world. I never would have dreamed that I would end up fighting an evil computer virus who is threatening to destroy the world. One of my new friends was captured, and I fought him. He attacked and infected me with a virus that nearly killed me. One of my other friends nearly died in the process of trying to save me.

Most importantly though, is my new relation to this new virus. The creator of the virus apparently made a prophecy before he was lost. The prophecy proclaimed that someone like me would come and destroy it before it could get out of hand. I am the Knight of Lyoko now. There is no denying it. My feat on Lyoko proved that my destiny is to destroy this virus, and to save the Princess of Lyoko: Aelita. I have never believed in fate, or destiny, or even karma. I always hated the fact that something could be in control of my life besides me. But there is no denying it now. I am the Knight of Lyoko. I will defend it with all my power.

"Macas Keloly: Knight of Lyoko. I like the sound of that." I say to myself. I stand up and look around.

In one swift pull, I find myself on the branch of the tree. I climb some more, until I reach as far as I can go. Any farther, and the tree will not support my weight. But I am still high enough to see over the tops of the trees. I look beyond, and I can see the roof of the school, but that isn't what captivates me. I see the sunset, lowering slowly into the vast trees of the forest. Soon, the sun is gone. The landscape has completely consumed it. Night is coming. Thank God for stars.

End of Code Prophecy: A Dark Secret.

Be on the lookout for Code Prophecy: Starsin the Night, coming soon.

* * *

**Yup, it's over! All gone... don't worry, I'll have the sequal up soon.**

**Again, I say thanks for all those who reviewed, especially those who said they loved this story. I have a feeling that most people who see mine don't want to read it because it's 36 chapters long...**

**There's only one thing I ask for you to put in a review. I figured out that my writing style is different than most. Most people have a set plot that they stick to until the story is finished. I have a basic concept in my head, and I write whatever pops into my head. That's why I had about three or four different plot lines going through this entire story.**

**So! Tell me in a review if you liked it or not. If you want me to keep doing that, say yes. If you would like it to be less complicated, say no and I'll try in the next story to keep to one plot line more. No guarantees though.**

**Thanks again too everyone, and I'll see you in my next story! Before I leave, I will end with a bunch of quotes!**

**418. I'm not cheating, I'm just changing my answers to match yours.**

**419. Mental Note: Stop making mental notes.**

**421. Only in America can a pizza delivery guy get to your house faster than an ambulance, guaranteed. (I thank my friend Seanna for that)**

**422. poke**

**408. Put a :D on!**

**366. It takes a true genius to prove himself wrong while trying to prove he's right.**


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